A Jerk & A Vampire(Rosario Vampire)
by scarecrow1000154
Summary: Reiji Oni, a demon from the Underworld, joins Tsukune and his friends on their adventures through their first year at Yokai Academy: a school made for monsters, by monsters.
1. Chapter 1: Introducing The Jerk

Chapter One: Introducing the Jerk

At the front gates of Yokai Academy, there's a boy dressed in the Yokai Academy uniform standing there with his bag over his shoulder in one hand and his other hand in his pants pocket. He is a bit taller than the average boy and has short spiky blonde hair and blue eyes. As he walks to school he thinks to himself, "Damn, this is a giant school. Why did Cerbero have to send me here of all places?" He looks up at the giant school once more and says, "Well, I guess I don't have any other choice." As he walks into the school and past the plain looking students, he thinks to himself, "Yokai Academy, a school built and designed to foster all kinds of monsters. Why do I have to deal with this place again? I could've easily just stayed in the Underworld and kept minding my own damn business." As he walks up the stairs to the second floor, he continues his thoughts, thinking, "I can already hear him lecturing me. 'Cooperation between other monster species is vital to blah blah blah'. Why do I need to learn how to be 'friends' with other people? I don't need anybody's help. I can deal with anything life throws at me!" As he walks through the hallway, he stops right in front of a door before pulling a piece of paper out of his pocket. As he looks at it, he sees the room numbers for the room in front of him matches the one for his first class. With a reluctant sigh, he stuffs the schedule back into his pocket. He opens the door to see the teacher standing at her chalkboard, drawing pictures in front of only five to six students. "Ah, another one! How wonderful! Please, come in! Come in! Take a seat. We'll get started once everyone gets here.", the teacher says as she motions for him to take a seat. He simply rolls his eyes before taking his seat near the middle of the room.

As time goes on and more students continue to trickle into the room and fill the vacant seats, the boy lays his head down and takes a nap in his free time. He only awakens when he hears the slam of the door shutting for the final time, which causes him to growl as he raises his head to see who made such a loud noise. He sees the teacher standing at the door with a sly smile on her face before propping up his head with one hand with his elbow on the table for leverage. She tells everyone how this school is special in the fact that it is a school made by monsters for monsters, but the boy simply ignores her, not caring for what she has to say. He looks around the room for something to entertain him, but the only interesting thing he sees is a boy near the window awkwardly twitching. As she goes on to explain the consequences of breaking the rules on school grounds, our ever so lovable jerk interrupts her by asking, "Why exactly are you telling us all of this?" She looks in her book to find his name and sees that it is Reiji Oni. She says, "Well , the rules say that I have to tell you all of this so you all know the school rules. We don't exactly hand out rule books like schools in the human world do, so you'll only get to hear this stuff once, okay?" After hearing this, Reiji puts his head down and ignores her. He begins to be able to completely tune out the teacher's voice, but before he can enjoy the moment, a large, muscular boy with black hair asks, "So, teacher, what should we do if we happen to find a human on school grounds?" She refers to her list of names again and sees his name is Saizo. "Well, Saizo, that's completely impossible here. You see, the school is completely enclosed by a powerful barrier designed to keep humans out, you see. And besides, even if a human did get past the barrier, they'd most definitely be killed before they'd make it to the actual school, so there's nothing for you to be worried about." Suddenly, the twitching boy by the window drops all his books, drawing everyone's attention. This only causes him to panic before quickly building a wall of books on his desk to keep the other students from seeing him. A grin comes across Saizo's face and he says, "I don't know about anyone else, but I've been smelling a human this whole time." Reiji, thoroughly annoyed at this point, sits up and says to Saizo, "You're probably smelling yourself you piece of sh-", but before he can finish his sentence, a girl with long pink hair walks into the room after quickly opening the door and apologizes for her tardiness. Everyone except for Reiji and the now fortified twitching boy comment on how beautiful she is and calling her 'Moka Akashiya' before she sees the twitching boy hiding behind his wall of books. She rushes over to him as she exclaims, "Tsukune! We're in the same class! What are the odds of that!?" When she's close enough, she leaps into his arms, hugging him while knocking over his wall of books.


	2. Chapter 2: Bully Meets A Jerk

Chapter Two: Bully Meets A Jerk

After the teacher finishes her introduction and explaining the rules of the school, she dismisses her class early for the day. After hearing this, Moka takes Tsukune to go get a drink out of one of the vending machines outside on the first floor, pulling the helpless boy by his arm as she rushes through the hallway. Reiji just goes outside to take a smoke break and sees Moka and Tsukune sitting on a bench, drinking their drinks together while enjoying their snacks. Reiji leans against a pillar while smoking his cigarette and thinks to himself, "Hmph, look at those two. What are they, some sort of couple or something? No, that guy's too nervous to be her boyfriend. They're probably just friends or something." -Suddenly Saizo shows up, grabs Tsukune by the throat and pins him against a pillar. Saizo asks Moka why she hangs around with weak guys like this. Before he can chuck Tsukune into the vending machine, Reiji says, "Maybe she likes his personality more than your smell Saizo." Saizo looks over his shoulder to see Reiji standing right behind him."What do you want, Reiji? Can't you see I'm busy?", says Saizo, trying to blow him off. Reiji is annoyed by this and releases some of his monster energy to show that he is serious. Saizo feels Reiji's dark monster energy surround all of them and says, " W-what do you want?", in a slightly panicked tone. "First, I want you to let that other student go.", says Reiji in a more serious tone. Saizo gently places Tsukune on the bench and turns to Reiji. Reiji starts to circle Saizo, as if he were circling his prey. As he does this Reiji says, " You have a pretty good seat near the window Saizo. You wouldn't happen to want to trade someone seats, would you? " "I could trade you seats if that will get you to stop this.", says Saizo nervously. Reiji stops circling him and says, "Good, now get out of here before I feel the need to break your ribs." Saizo runs off and Reiji turns to Tsukune and Moka who are sitting on the bench nearby. Reiji looks at them for a few seconds then says, "I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Reiji Oni, but you can call me Reiji.", while rubbing the back of his neck. Moka and Tsukune both introduce themselves then Tsukune asks, " Why did you help us Reiji?" Reiji laughs and responds with, "Honestly, I just wanted to put Saizo in his place. And you two looked like you needed a hand so." Reiji suggests they go to the roof to get a better look at the campus. Moka doesn't see anything wrong with that idea and they all go to the roof.

As they hangout on the roof Reiji says, "So what's with that rosary? It's some kind of seal, right?" Moka asks him how he knows that and he says, "The same way I figured out you were a vampire." Moka and Tsukune are both shocked and Moka demands to know how Reiji got all of this information on her, but he just starts laughing. This confuses them even more before Reiji says, "You just told me. I was just guessing you were a vampire from the tomato juice from earlier, but really though I want to know what exactly that rosary does. It seems too shiny not to be important." Moka and Tsukune accept the fact that Reiji just played them and Moka explains that once her rosary comes off she turns into her true form. Tsukune says, "Well, if this other you is anything like you are she probably isn't that scary." Moka hugs Tsukune and starts to tell him how she was her first in more than one way. Reiji finds their love sickening and lights himself a cigarette. Tsukune senses the inner Moka and runs off saying that he has things to do. Moka asks herself, "Why did he leave?", and Reiji just shrugs.

Later that day Tsukune is trying to leave to go back to the human world, but Moka stops him. As she tries to convince him to stay and tells him how cruel humans can be, Reiji is watching from the shadows and hears everything. Tsukune tells her that he's human and Moka can't believe it, but Reiji does. Reiji walks out from the shadows and says, " Well, I didn't expect you to say that. So you're a human." As he gets closer Tsukune starts to think that he is going to hit him or something, but he just stands next to him and whispers to Tsukune, "I don't care if you are human Tsukune, but if you are smart you wouldn't run away from a cute vampire girl who clearly has a thing for you." Reiji pats Tsukune on the shoulder and walks over to Moka and waits for what Tsukune will do. Tsukune runs to the bus stop anyways. Reiji laughs and says, "He'll be back. He doesn't have a choice.", and walks off. Moka is still worried about Tsukune and runs after him. Reiji is just minding his own business when he hears Moka scream. " Damn, those two better stop getting themselves in trouble like this. I don't think I'll be able to handle saving both of them every day. ", says Reiji before he tries to find where the scream came from. When Reiji gets there Tsukune is already confronting Saizo, who is currently in his Orc form. Saizo pimp slaps Tsukune down the hill and Moka chases after him. Saizo isn't going to let them get away so easily so he chases after both of them. Reiji watches them from the shadows and says, " I guess I don't have to do anything other than watch if Moka's other form is as scary as she says.", before disappearing into the shadows. Tsukune finally finds the bus stop, though he is a little beaten up from riding down the hillside face first. Moka finds Tsukune at the bottom of the hill and tries to comfort him. Lovey dovey sad time. Saizo tells them to stop their 'lovey dovey bullshit' after he final finds them. Tsukune gets up and tries to defend Moka while explaining that he still wants to be her friend. Saizo punches him across the face and says, "Stop that bullshit before you make me puke!" As Tsukune skips off of the ground like a rock, Reiji says "He's fine. He can handle that." Moka picks up Tsukune, who is surprisingly still conscious, and Tsukune says that he doesn't care if she is a vampire and that he still likes her before he accidentally rips off the rosary. Moka and Reiji both realize that it just came off and Moka transforms into her vampire form. "Now isn't that interesting? Another S class super monster, how wonderful.", says Reiji with excitement. Reiji starts to walk towards them, but before he gets there Moka knocks out Saizo with a single kick to the face. " So this is your monster form, it seems strong enough. Maybe we can go head to head some time.", says Reiji as he gets closer to Moka and Tsukune. "Where the hell were you?", asks Moka. " I was just passing by when I saw this interesting bright light and decided to check it out.", says Reiji. She glares at him before checking on Tsukune. He's passed out with his face in the dirt. Moka puts back on her rosary and the two of them wait for Tsukune to wake up. Tsukune starts to come to and Moka says, "He's waking up." Reiji turns to see Tsukune slowly sitting up. Reiji passes him the bus schedule and says, "You're stuck here bud." Tsukune reads the schedule and asks, "Why does this bus only come once a month?" Reiji says that is a good question and that he has no clue why it is so wonky. Tsukune starts to bleed from a cut on his cheek and Moka goes to wipe it off with her tissue, but she is overwhelmed by the smell of his blood and bites his neck.


	3. Chapter 3: That Isn't Love In The Air

The next morning Reiji wakes up with a migraine. He isn't effected by it too much since he usually wakes up with a migraine. He looks out his window as he gets dressed for class and thinks to himself, "It's still early, I guess I'll go for a walk then." As Reiji wanders off into the forest and finds a bench near a pond, he decides to sit down and enjoy his morning with a cigarette. As he lights his cigarette, he hears somebody walking up behind him. He leans his head back to see who this person was and sees a girl with blue hair standing behind him. "Can you help me?", she asks with a saddened look on her face. Instead of helping her, Reiji looks back to the pond and ignores her. She gets visibly upset by this and starts to fake cough to try and catch his attention, but he continues to ignore her as he smokes his cigarette. "Hey! Stop ignoring me!", the girl shouts as she sits next to him on the bench. He continues to ignore her however, focusing on the pond instead. She gets up from the bench and stands right in front of him while looking him in the eyes, demanding his attention to no avail. She stares into his eyes and says, "Love charm.", as she casts her spell on him, but Reiji is unaffected by this spell. "What? You resisted my love charm? How?", she asks in frustration and disbelief. Reiji removes his cigarette from his mouth and says, "Real monsters don't fall for cheap parlor tricks." They both glare at each other for a moment before Reiji starts to feel bored and thinks, "The others might be on their way out now, I should get moving." He then stands up from the bench and blows a puff of smoke in her face before saying, "See you later Boobzilla." Reiji then walks off towards the nearby road, leaving the girl behind.

When he gets to the front of the dorms, he sees Tsukune and Moka together, and as he gets closer he sees that they are arguing over something before Tsukune runs off into the woods. "What was that about?", he asks Moka as Tsukune disappears out of sight. She blushes and says, "I might have sucked some of his blood." "Did you ask him if you could?", he asks sternly, though he already knows the answer. "No.", she replies nervously as taps the tips of her fingers together. "That couldn't possibly been why he ran off in such a way.", he says in an overly sarcastic tone, earning a frown from the pink haired girl. As the two walk to school together, Reiji thinks, "I wonder where Tsukune ran off to... Meh, he'll be fine."

Later that day, Moka and Reiji are hanging out on the roof of the school, waiting for Tsukune. They haven't seen Tsukune all morning and Reiji looks over at Moka and sees her depressed face while thinking, "Man, this is really getting to her. Those two are complete idiots." He sighs and says, "If you feel so bad about this morning, just go apologize. Don't just mope around like an idiot." "How did you know what I was thinking?", she asks nervously as she flinches. Reiji just looks off to the distance and says, "I could smell the smoke coming from your ears. Now go apologize already." She then runs off to go find Tsukune and Reiji follows a fair distance behind her so he could make sure she didn't mess it up. When Moka finds Tsukune, he's hugging a girl with blue hair. "Who are you and what are you doing with Tsukune?", Moka asks her. The girl happily replies, saying, "I'm Tsukune's friend. We're in the same class and we're friends now!" As the girl and Tsukune starts to walk away, Reiji walks out from the shadows. "Hey, it's Boobzilla. What is she doing with Tsukune? ", he asks with a confused look on his face. Moka tries to get Tsukune to stop, saying, "Tsukune? Where've you been? Reiji and I haven't seen you all day!" "I don't want to talk to you guys anymore. Reiji's a complete asshole and you just want to be close to me to use me as your breakfast.", Tsukune replies coldly, looking blankly at her. This earns him a confused and shocked look from Moka, but an accepting nod from Reiji. "B-but...Tsukune...", Moka mutters in a saddened tone as the girl with him shoves her out of the way as she drags Tsukune off with her. "She's been using you for her breakfast? How terrible! Don't worry, Tsukune, I'll help you forget her. Don't worry.", the girl says seductively as she drags Tsukune away from his friends.

Later that day, all four of them were all in their literature class with . Reiji sat in his new seat and contemplated how nice it was, thinking, "Finally! Now I can't smell that fishy bastard all the way in the back! This is perfect!" He then happens to look over his shoulder to see how Moka is holding up and sees she's locked in a stare war with the blue haired girl. And as class ends, Reiji and Moka both walk out of the room without Tsukune. Moka ran off to get something to drink and Reiji just kind of wanders around, waiting for their next class to start. As Reiji walks somewhat lost in the hallway, he sees Moka and the blue haired girl arguing with one another. Reiji says to himself, "I should probably do something about that. Nah, she can handle it." "The name's Kurumu Kurono, and I'm a succubus. And you're standing in the way of my master plan, Moka Akashia!", the blue haired girl says to her with a smug look on her face, earning a confused look from the young vampire. Moka then tells her, "I don't care what you are or what you're planning, just leave Tsukune out of it!" "I can't do that, you see, because my master plan is to enslave the entire male student body. That includes Tsukune! And my plan would already be complete if it weren't for you and your good looks! Instead of falling for me with my good looks and my amazing rack, they're falling for you and your...your...innocent nature! I will not lose to anyone in charm, do you hear me, Moka Akashia!?", Kurumu says to her in her rage, getting right in Moka's face as she yells at the girl. Kurumu then smiles evily as she pats Moka's cheek and says, "And to get back at you for messing up my plans, I think I'll steal Tsukune from you. I'll steal your boyfriend right from under you~" "I told you already! Leave Tsukune out of this! If you have a problem with me, let's keep it between you and me, there's no need to get him involved!", Moka begs, but Kurumu only giggles. She smiles at Moka before saying, "You know, when I was next to him I could smell him pretty well, you know. He has quite the pleasant smell, almost like that of a human. I guess that's why you like his taste so much, huh?" As she says this, the hairs on the back of Moka's and Reiji's necks stand up, both worried that she might've found out the secret already. "I wonder, does his blood taste similar too? Well, good luck finding another food source when I steal him from you.", Kurumu asks almost mockingly as she laughs at Moka's expense. Moka tries to defend herself, saying, "I don't use him like that! We're just friends!" Their argument is quickly interrupted when they hear Tsukune shout, "MOKA!" The three of them all look over to the source to see Tsukune walking down the hallway. "I've been looking all over for you! I wanted to tell you something. I'm sorry for running off this morning.", he says to her as he walks over to her, stopping only a few feet away. He nervously rubs the back of his head before saying, "I had another thing I wanted to apologize for.", but before he has a chance to say anything else, Kurumu tackles him with her giant breasts. "Oh~ My herooooo~", Kurumu exclaims as she hugs the boy, engulfing his left arm in between her breasts. As she rubs his arm between her breasts, she tells him, "I still have to thank you for this morning~ How ever could I show my gratitude to you~" "Wait, I came here to talk to Moka, but I can't seem to move!", Tsukune shouts in his mind as he tries desperately to pull away, but can't build up the strength to break free of the boobie trap. "Poor Tsukune, looks like he's in quite the bind. I'll stay over here and watch for now. Maybe I can figure something out about this Kurumu chick if I just watch?", Reiji thinks to himself as he watches this all unfold. "Tsukune, she isn't really being nice! She's tricking you!", Moka exclaims, but as he tries again to break free, Kurumu falls into his arms and says, "Oh no, another fainting spell! It's probably from all of Moka's mean words! Why is she being so mean to me!?" With a grin across her face as she looks up at the confused Tsukune, Kurumu thinks, "Great! My plan is working! Now to make him come to my side for good~" She gently places her hand on his cheek and guides his gaze to her eyes, and as their eyes meet, she mutters under her breathe, "Love Charm~", and his eyes seem to become cold and empty. "Tsukune, you have to listen to me, please! She's a terrible monster who wants to devour you!", Moka explains to him, but he's already too far gone to truly hear her words. Under Kurumu's charm, Tsukune says, "Devour me? Come on, Moka! You already suck my blood for breakfast, lunch and dinner.", causing the girl to flinch in response. As tears well up in Moka's eyes, she sniffles before bursting into tears and running away, crying. Tsukune suddenly snaps out of his state to see Moka as she runs away before asking, "What just happened!? Why's Moka crying!?" "Come on Tsukune, don't worry about her. Let's go somewhere a little more...private~", Kurumu suggests before dragging the boy down the hallway by his arm. As they disappear out of sight, Reiji steps out of the crowd and leans over the balcony before letting out a heavy sigh. "I guess I have to do something about this now. What a pain in the ass.", he says to himself before walking down the stair, following after where Tsukune and Kurumu.

As Reiji walks through the halls, he just so happens to stop by the nurse's office and hears something going on inside. Through the door, he hears Kurumu shout, "Tsukune~ Don't be so rough~ It's my first time too, you know~ Don't go so fast~ Hey, don't just have your eyes closed! Open them, now!" He swings the door open to see Kurumu on top of Tsukune, trying desperately to get him to open his eyes. "What the hell is going on here?", he asks them with a slight grin. "Reiji help! She's trying to get me pregnant!", Tsukune begs as he tries desperately to get the girl off of him. Reiji and Kurumu look at Tsukune, both concerned about what they just heard. "First of all, I'll teach you about the birds and the bees later, Tsukune. Second, get your claws off of my friend, Boobzilla!", Reiji said as he divekicked Kurumu, sending her crashing through the window. As Kurumu went flying through the window, Moka finally showed up to save Tsukune, but realizes that Reiji already saved him. "Reiji, how did you...", Moka asks with a puzzled look on her face as she sees Tsukune's embarrassed face. "No time to explain, we need to get out of here before-", Reiji begins to say before Kurumu flies back into the room, uses her tail to snatch Tsukune by the neck and flies out through the window again. Moka grabs onto Tsukune's leg and goes with them for a ride as Reiji watches as the three of them fly off and says, "I guess I have to take the express route." He then jumps out of the window and chases after them. As he lands on the ground, he watches as Kurumu drops both of them in the woods and says, "They're probably fine." When Reiji finally finds Moka and Tsukune, they are dodging Kurumu's attacks and she is hitting the trees. Reiji says to Kurumu, "Stop cutting the trees. They're the only good looking thing in this place." She takes that as an insult and dives at him. Reiji backhands her into the nearby pond and asks Moka and Tsukune if they are alright. They say they are fine and Moka tries to get Tsukune to take off her rosary. Tsukune tries, but it won't budge. Kurumu leaps out of the water and says, "Great, now I'm all wet. And not in a good way. You're gonna pay for that." She then dives at Reiji, but he sidesteps out of the way and she runs face first into a tree. She quickly recovers and starts trying to fight Moka and Tsukune, but Reiji blocks all of her attacks, deflecting her attacks by simply pushing her arms out of the way with his wrists. She then asks Moka, "Tsukune is nothing more to you than food, why do you care so much about him?" Moka then shouts, "Tsukune isn't my food! He's more than that to me! He's my friend! And I won't let you hurt him anymore!" "Moka, I feel the same way about you... And because of that, I can't let you do this all for me! I'll protect you too! I won't let anyone hurt you either!", Tsukune confesses before turning around to face Kurumu, but in the process accidentally pulls off Moka's rosary. Moka then transforms into the inner Moka. "Well, I guess I don't get to have any fun this time.", Reiji says with a disappointed sigh as the great pillar of light surrounding Moka fades away. Moka glares at him and he glares back at her. "I'm going to go enjoy the scenery. If you need me, just shout for me. And try not to destroy any more trees, they make this place much more peaceful.", Reiji says to her as he walks over to a nearby tree and leans against it. As they finish their little squabble, Moka releases some of her overwhelming monster energy which causes Kurumu to flinch in fear before asking, "So the stories are true then!? You really are an S class monster, a vampire!? Is this really true!?" "Do you want to come down here and test that then?", Moka taunts her, causing the succubus to growl. Kurumu then descends a little before exclaiming, "I don't care if you're really a Vampire or not! I can't lose here! Because I have to find my destined one! I'll find him one day, even if I have to seduce all of Yokai's students in the process. In order to help my people repopulate, I have to find him, and I can't let you stop me, Moka Akashia!" Moka only chuckles in response before looking up at her with a wicked smile and asking, "I'll pay? And how exactly do you plan on doing that?" "I'll tear you apart!", Kurumu shouts as she dives down at her with her nails extended, prepared to rip her apart. Moka, however, easily dodges out of the way before grabbing the girl by her tail and saying, "Too slow." She quickly slams Kurumu into the ground with all her might before tossing her back up and kicking her across the battlefield, sending her flying through multiple trees before she comes to a stop as she collides back first into the tree Reiji is leaning against. Moka isn't finished, however, and continues to frighten the young girl while menacingly saying, "I think I'll deal with you permanently. Maybe I'll tear off your wings and tail. Then perhaps you'd learn your place?" "Please...no..! I'll stop, just please, don't kill me!", Kurumu begs helplessly, unable to even stand at this point. As Reiji lets out an almost evil laugh, she looks over to him and he says, "What a violent idea, ripping apart another monster with your bare hands. Do you think you can handle that Moka? Could you sleep at night?" "Could you?", she asks and Reiji just laughs. Tsukune surprises everyone, interrupting their conversation by moving in between Moka and Kurumu. "What's up with this Tsukune? We were about to get to the good part.", Reiji asks with a slightly disappoint look on his face. "She deserves a chance.", Tsukune suggests as he continues to block Moka's path. "She tried to kill you and yet you still protect her?", Moka asks with a stern yet confused glare. Tsukune shakes his head yes and smiles before saying, "She can be our friend just like how we're friends." Reiji sighs and says, "Whatever, but if she becomes a problem you're going to have to deal with her by yourself." Moka rolls her eyes and snags her rosary from Tsukune then tells him, "You're a fool. Don't start thinking that we're friends, because the Moka you know and I are two entirely different people. You'd do good to remember that, Tsukune. I only want your blood." "Speaking of things people care about, why the hell did you kick her through those trees you brat? Couldn't you have just kicked her into the ground or something?", Reiji scold Moka, irritated that she couldn't care less about the trees. She glares at him and tells him, "Shut up already. You're a nuisance. If you value breathing, then you'd reconsider calling me that again." She then reattaches the rosary and returns to her normal form. She starts to fall forward, but Tsukune catches her unconscious body as her hair turns back into her pink, bubble gum hair.

The next day Tsukune, Moka and Reiji are walking through the graveyard talking about yesterday's events. "So the rosary talked to you?", Tsukune asks with a confused glance. "Yeah, maybe the seal is getting weaker. I don't know.", Moka suggests, also confused by the predicament. "I bet she's watching us through it too. It's like she's stalking us.", Reiji says as he glares at the rosary. Moka shrugs, not knowing what the other Moka did with her free time. Tsukune then says, "I don't care what that Moka said, she's still my friend even if she doesn't believe it." Suddenly Kurumu shows up, causing both Moka and Tsukune to flinch by suddenly shouting, "Tsukune!" She has cookies and holds them out to Tsukune before saying, "Here, I made us some cookies. Maybe we can eat them together?" "Why me exactly?", Tsukune asks with a slightly cautious look on his face as he takes one. "Remember that stuff I said about succubi looking for their destined one?", Kurumu asks with a kind smile towards the boy. Tsukune and Moka both nod yes while Reiji shakes his head no. She smiled and says, "Well, I've decided! You are my destined one, Tsukune!" She cups her face with one hand as she happily says, "After you risked your life to save me from that other Moka, I fell for you instantly! I'm in love!" Kurumu then grabs his arm, rubbing it against her breasts while saying, "I hope you like me too, Tsukune~ We can be so happy together, just the two of us~" Moka then grabs his other arm and says, "You can't have Tsukune! He's my friend!", before they start tugging on his arms, nearly pulling the boy in two. "Man, you can't ever catch a break, can you Tsukune. Tsukune?", Reiji says as he realizes that Tsukune is now unconscious from the onslaught. "You two should be a bit more gentle with the boy. Look at him.", Reiji says as he shows them his glazed eyes. "Oh no, Tsukune! I'm sorry!", Moka exclaims as she leaps for his neck. As she bit him he regained consciousness and screamed like a girl. "I guess that works too.", Reiji says with a sigh as the girls ignore his advice.


	4. Chapter 4: It's Rainin Cat, Dog and Pans

It's early in the morning and Tsukune and Reiji are looking for their names on the class ranking board. Tsukune finds himself on the lower end of the board while Reiji can't seem to find his own name. Tsukune quickly skims through the names on the board until he gets to the fifth rank and starts to choke on his own spit. "Wait? How did you get ranked fifth?", Tsukune asks in disbelief as he turns to Reiji. Reiji just shrugs before admitting, "Honestly, I have no clue how I'm that high up there. I just guessed on all of the questions." Tsukune continues reading up the list and his eyes widen when he sees Moka is ranked second in the class. As he looks back and forth from Reiji to the board, pointing at Moka's ranking, Moka walks over to them and says, "Good morning you guys. Did you find your rankings yet?" "Yeah, somehow I got fifth and Tsukune basically got dead last.", Reiji explains as he looked at the board again. "Who is this Yukari Sendo person? They managed to get ranked number one in the class.", he asks as he looks back to Moka. Suddenly he sees three guys picking on a small girl with a nice looking hat. Their leader lunges at the girl, but Reiji grabs the boy's wrist before he can get close enough to hurt her. "Mind if I step in?", Reiji asks as he starts to squeeze the leader's wrist. The leader immediately tries to pull away, but Reiji's grip only tightens. "Get your hands off of me! She's just a filthy witch, who cares if we hit her a little?", the boy shouts as he continues trying desperately to escape. "I do!", Moka exclaims as she rushes over to them. Reiji, the leader and his two grunts all look to see that Moka is shielding the girl from them. Reiji lets out a slight chuckle before saying, "How about we end this?", and snapping the leader's wrist like a twig. The leader screams out in pain, gripping at his now broken wrist as Tsukune finally realizes that there is a commotion going on. Tsukune runs over to see what's going on and sees that Moka and Reiji are protecting this girl. Confused, he asks, "What did I miss?", earning Reiji's attention. "Oh nothing much, just this guy and his goons trying to pick on this little girl.", Reiji explains as he points towards the three guys. "You should really head to the nurse and get that looked at. If you don't, I might feel inclined to break more of your bones.", Reiji warns the leader in a sadistic tone, causing a shiver to go up all three of the bullies' spines. The two goons quickly pick up their leader before running off and Reiji turns back to Tsukune and the others. "What, too much?", Reiji asks with a confused look on his face. Moka, Tsukune and the young girl all nod in unison, earning a slight laugh from the boy. "Noted, now let's go get some lunch. I need something to eat.", Reiji says before walking off to the cafeteria.

Later, Yukari is sitting in the cafeteria with Reiji, Tsukune and Moka at one of the many lunch tables as they eat their lunches together. "So who are you exactly and why were they picking on you?", Moka asks the little girl. The little girl looks up to her and says, "I'm Yukari Sendo. Those idiots were picking on me for being a witch." Tsukune's eyes widen in disbelief as he says, "Wow, you're pretty young. And you're really in our grade?" Moka then adds, "You're four years younger than us, right?", to which Yukari nods. "Did you skip a few grades to get here or something?", Tsukune asks, earning a sigh from Reiji with maximum sarcasm before he says, "No Tsukune, she went through four years of classes as an infant. What do you think Tsukune?" Tsukune tries desperately to laugh it off, but everyone can tell that he is embarrassed from his slightly red cheeks. "You must be super smart to have made it this far so quickly. And that witch costume looks pretty cool too.", Moka complements her as she smiles at Yukari. Yukari blushes and leaps over the table, tackling Moka as she shouts, "I love you!" As the two of them hit the floor, Yukari starts to fondle Moka's breasts as Tsukune watches helplessly. When he hears her innocent moans as Yukari starts to squeeze down on them, he has a sudden nosebleed. "They're bigger and softer than they look~", Yukari notes as she feels Moka's breasts all around. "Well, I didn't see that coming.", Reiji admits as he leans over the table to see if they're okay. "Yep, you're the one Moka.", Yukari says again as she rubs her face against Moka's bust. "What do you mean?", Moka asks with her face now a perfect red from her embarrassment. "Isn't it obvious? I want you to be my girlfriend!", Yukari says with a smile. "Um. I can be a girl and a friend.", Moka nervously replies as she avoids looking at Yukari. As she hears this, Yukari squeals with glee and squeezes Moka even more, causing Tsukune to have another nosebleed and pass out as Moka lets out a loud moan.

As the day goes on, Reiji is walking through the hallway and sees Moka with a weird looking backpack. "Hey Moka, where did you get the backpack?", Reiji asks as he walks up to her. As she looks over her shoulder at him, Moka asks, "What do you mean?", with a confused look on her face with a slight blush lining her cheeks. Reiji gets closer and realizes that it isn't a backpack, but Yukari holding onto Moka's chest as she continues walking through the hallway, trying to keep a straight face as she's fondled by a small child. "Wow, that is just...creepy.", Reiji admits as he pokes Yukari's arms. "Stop!", a voice exclaims from down the hall, earning all three students' attentions. They turn to see it's Tsukune, and he's running down the hall like a mad man and stops right in front of them. "You two need to stop this! You're both girls!", Tsukune shouts aggressively. "Honestly Tsukune, this wouldn't look any better even if you switched the genders around.", Reiji says jokingly, but nobody laughs. "Oh it's you.", Yukari says as she realizes Tsukune's actually there. "Tsukune Aono: your skills are nothing but poor at best and you lack any redeeming qualities what so ever. I won't let a dummy like you corrupt my perfect Moka!", Yukari says sternly as she gropes Moka again. Reiji puts his hand on top of her head and says, "Tsukune does beat you at one thing though, shorty." Yukari growls as she waves her wand and says her incantation, casting a spell on a nearby broom closet. Suddenly cleaning supplies fly out of the closet and start to attack Tsukune without any mercy. "Reiji help! These cleaning supplies are trying to kill me!", Tsukune begs as the buckets and brooms beat him senseless. "You can at least handle a few cleaning supplies, Tsukune. You aren't that useless.", Reiji says with a slight glare before a bucket knocks Tsukune out cold. "I guess you are that useless.", Reiji admits to his surprise.

Reiji takes Tsukune to the nurse's office where Kurumu takes him off of his hands and says, "I'll patch him up and make him feel all better." Reiji really doesn't care at this point and goes outside to take a smoke break. As he's outside, enjoying the quiet, he hears some giggling. He walks around the corner to see Yukari messing with something just outside of a window. Reiji thinks to himself, "This can't be good. I'll see what nonsense she's up to this time." He stealthfully sneaks up behind the witch and sees that she's playing with a voodoo doll. She moves the doll's arms down and he watches through the window as Tsukune pulls down Kurumu's panties right in front of Moka. After a split second of silence, he's hit with a duo of slaps to the face from the two girls, to which Yukari bursts into laughter. As she laughs, Reiji grabs Yukari by her head with his right hand and starts to tap on the glass to get somebody's attention, causing Yukari to go silent in disbelief. The whole room looks at him as he holds Yukari up against the window and he points to the voodoo doll.

They have a group meeting in one of the empty classrooms. Tsukune says, "You guys have to do something about Yukari." "She isn't bothering me any.", says Kurumu. "She's just a little kid Tsukune. She doesn't know any better.", says Moka. "Just because she's a little kid doesn't mean she can go around messing with people like that.", says Tsukune. "Well we could make her sit in a corner for an hour or something.", says Reiji as he pulls a chair into the corner. Moka says, "Put that back Reiji. We aren't doing that." Reiji laughs and says, "I was only joking. It isn't like she's a twelve year old." Yukari glares at Reiji and Tsukune gets in between them and says to Yukari, "If you keep this up Yukari everybody will hate you and you'll end up without any friends." Yukari scoffs and says, "I'm a genius, if people aren't on my level then they don't deserve to my friends. Besides..." She looks up at Tsukune with a tear in her eye and says, "I've been alone from the very beginning." Reiji walks out of the room without a word and Tsukune tries to comfort Yukari, but she quickly drops a pan on his head before exclaiming, "You fell for it! It was all a prank!" Tsukune gets mad and tries to run after her, but Moka stops him and says, "You need to calm down. You can't just flip out on a kid like that, Tsukune."

Reiji is off in the woods by the pond enjoying a cigarette. He sits down on the nearby bench and just stares off into space. His peace, however, is interrupted when he hears a deep demonic voice say, "They won't understand you. You should leave them behind like the others, before it's too late." He simply looks down to his left hand and glares at it before looking back up to the sky. Suddenly Reiji hears a noise off in the distance. "Was that a scream? Who the hell's screaming all the way out here?", he thinks to himself as he stands up from the bench and goes to investigate. When Reiji finally finds the source of the noise, he sees Yukari trying to fight off three lizardmen. Suddenly one of them bites her wand, crushing it to pieces. Yukari screams for help and Reiji says, "Damn, you're so loud. Do you have an inside voice, Yukari?" "Reiji? What are you doing here?", Yukari asks in a confused and panicked state. Reiji releases a large amount of monster energy causing the lizardmen to back up a few feet while saying, "Someone interrupted my smoke break. Now who the hell wants to go first?" Suddenly they hear Moka's voice shouting, "Yukari!", at the top of her lungs and everyone looks over to see the girl running towards them. Yukari quickly stands up and somewhat sheepishly says, "I can handle these guys by myself. I don't need any help." Moka walks over to her and hugs her while saying, "You need to stop acting so tough all the time Yukari. You shouldn't be afraid to ask for help when you really need it. I was all alone once too and I won't let anyone go through that as long as I can help it." The lizardmen all look to one another before the leader of the pack says, "Screw this mushie gooshie crap! We'll just eat all of you!" "You should probably rethink that before I choose to kick your teeth down your throats.", Reiji replies as he stands in between the lizardmen and the girls. As the three lizardmen surround them, they hear Tsukune shouting out, "MOKA!", from above and when they look up, they see Kurumu flies in with Tsukune in her arms. When the two land next to Yukari and Moke, Reiji lets out a chuckle before asking, "Looks like you're out numbered and out classed. Now what are you going to do?" The lizardmen all lunge for Yukari and Reiji catches two of the goons, but can't catch the leader in time. Before the leader can bite down into Yukari and Moka, Tsukune saves them by tackling the girls to the ground, taking the hit himself. As he did this, however, he also ripped off Moka's rosary, releasing her inner form. This sudden surge of monster energy caused the lizardmen to group up and try to make a plan to fight as the large pillar of light forms around Moka. "You three are nothing more than a few weak monsters that try to make themselves look strong by ganging up on weaker monsters. It's sickening.", Moka says as she glares at them, now in her full Vampire form. "Maybe we should show them what strong monsters actually look like.", Reiji suggests in an excited tone as he looks over to Moka. Moka simply raises her eyebrow at the boy before asking, "We?" To everyone's surprise, Reiji places his left hand over his face and a glowing red pentagram starts to form on the back of his hand as he says, "A class monsters recognized. Seal one released until they have been eliminated." Suddenly there is a large surge of monster energy and Reiji is engulfed in a black aura with longer, glowing nails and demonic red eyes. "So you're an S class monster, a demon. I should have guessed as much from your hyper aggressive nature.", Moka notes as she observes Reiji's overwhelming aura and amazing monster energy. "Yes and no. I might tell you later, but now we have some toys to play with.", Reiji somewhat explains in a more demonic voice before turning his attention to the lizardmen. "Fine by me, but I'm expecting an answer.", Moka replies as she gets into a battle stance, ready to destroy anyone in her path. Before they can even react, Reiji appears behind the lizardmen and kicks all three of them to Moka, saying, "Kick the babies!" She kicks them up into the air with a punt kick and Reiji appears above them and says, "Bottom floor? Sure thing.", and kicks them so hard that they go through the ground. Reiji lands back on the ground and begins to laugh uncontrollably at their suffering. "Hey, Reiji. Are you okay?", Kurumu asks with a slightly concerned look as she worries for his current mental state. "Give it a second. The seal should be shutting away my excess power shortly and I'll return to normal.", Reiji explains as he starts to drop rocks down the new hole in the ground. The pentagram glows again on Reiji's left hand and he returns back to normal. As Moka approaches the boy, she asks Reiji, "So what exactly are you and how does that seal work?" Reiji laughs and says, "That's a story for another time, but I'll tell you this: it is a pentagram seal made by Lucifer himself to keep my powers sealed away and it has a total of five seals. What exactly each one does is beyond me, but I can at least access the first two just fine." Tsukune hands Moka her rosary as she says, "You better tell us that story some time." And as he puts the rosary back on, she falls into Tsukune's arms. "Why did you all help me even after I did all of those mean things?", Yukari asks with a baffled look on her face. Tsukune just smiles to her and says, "Because we want to help you Yukari, no matter what." "That and the fact that if you were eaten, I wouldn't be able to make fun of you anymore, shorty.", Reiji adds mockingly causing the little witch to growl at him. She casts a quick spell to drop a pan on his head, but he catches it and as he tosses it off into the distance he says, "I keep telling you guys that cheap parlor tricks don't work on real monsters." "Reiji, that's no way to treat your friends.", Kurumu says as she wags her finger at him, but Reiji just rolls his eyes at her. Confused, Yukari asks, "Did you just say..friends?", to which Tsukune nods. "Just consider us all your friends now, okay? And if you have any problems, don't be afraid to come to us. That's what friends are for, right?", Tsukune explains to her with a smile on his face as he extends his hand out to her. As she looks at his kind smile, tears begin to well up in her eyes before she bursts completely into tears.

Three days later, Reiji is walking through the hallway carrying boxes with Kurumu and Moka as Kurumu explains, "Man, Yukari's really grown up over the past few days. She's apologized to everyone she's pull her pranks on. Vowed to stop prancing other students for fun. And overall stopped being a little brat all the time. We're such good role models.", as they head to a nearby classroom. As they walk into the classroom, Moka and Kurumu see Yukari on top of Tsukune, hugging him. "Yukari, what are you doing here?", Moka asks frantically. "My class is right next door to you guys so I decided to stop by. I should come over and play more often.", Yukari explains as her hug tightens. "Play?", Kurumu and Reiji asks in combined confusion. "Well, you see, since Tsukune helped save me from those freaky lizard guys I've realized something. I'm in love with Moka and Tsukune!", Yukari admits as she cuddles Tsukune, making him feel uncomfortable and blush. Kurumu runs over to him and says, "No, Tsukune is mine!", and she starts to tug on Tsukune's left arm, trying to pull him away from the small girl. Yukari surprises her with her above average upper body strength as she pulls Tsukune's other arm, pulling him away from Kurumu as she says, "Like I'd let some bimbo have our Tsukune!" In response, Kurumu pulls him back towards her, but Yukari won't let her have him to herself, leading to them playing tug-of-war with Tsukune. As the two fight over Tsukune, Moka says, "You two are just wasting your breath." This causes the two girls to glance over at her with confused looks, seeing Moka's nervous twitching. Moka quickly leaps towards Tsukune as she says, "Tsukune is mine!", before sinking her teeth into Tsukune's neck. As Moka starts to suck Tsukune's blood, Reiji asks, "Okay, now that you three had your fun, can you find a place for these damn boxes?" as he carried the five large boxes into the room. They all ignore him, choosing to fight one another for Tsukune's love instead. Irritated, he decides to drop the boxes on top of them and says, "Good enough for me."


	5. Chapter 5: Not Completely Useless

It's an average morning in Ms. Nekanome's class today as Rejij stares off through the window. She goes on with her class and asks Tsukune, "Mr. Aono, could you answer this question for us?" Tsukune quickly stands up from his seat and shouts, "What the hell am I supposed to do!?" As the boy slowly realizes what he just did, everyone in the room stares at him and Ms. Nekanome says, "It's simple, just answer this problem." Tsukune nervously rubs the back of his head before sitting back down in his seat and answers her question. "Something must be bugging him or something.", Reiji thinks to himself as he sees the forced smile he's trying to put on for everyone.

After class, Reiji finds Tsukune and Moka out on the roof together. They seem to be talking about something serious by the looks on their faces, but he can't hear what they're saying from the doorway. As Reiji gets closer, he sees that Moka is about to bite Tsukune and pulls her away just in time to stop her, causing her to bite the air. "Hey, don't you think you've had enough blood for today? He's probably having problems because of all of the blood loss.", Reiji suggest as he holds the vampire back. "I didn't drink that much.", Moka quickly replies as she tries to look innocent. Kurumu walks in from the stairway and agrees with Reiji, saying, "You can't just go sucking Tsukune's blood like that, Moka. You need to give him some rest." "Don't worry about it. I'm fine, see? Moka's a vampire and I don't mind satisfying her needs.", Tsukune says boldly as he smiles to the two girls, though he's wobbling a bit, nearly unable to keep his balance on his own. "Tsukune, you literally look like a piece of jerky right now so you aren't exactly fine.", Reiji notes as he points at Tsukune's jerky like hands. "Well, I have needs too Tsukune.", Kurumu adds as she leans in to kiss Tsukune, but Reiji pulls her away as well. "I don't think so. Tsukune needs both his blood and his free will.", Reiji growls, earning an irritated look from the busty girl. Moka and Kurumu argue with Reiji, but he ignores them.

Later that day, Reiji is wandering around the campus and sees three guys beating on Tsukune with plastic cones. "Hey, what do you three think you're doing?", Reiji asks as he comes out of the nearby forest. All three of them look at Reiji and don't know what to do, simply looking to each other before looking back to Reiji nervously. "Reiji help! This guys keep hitting me with those cone things!", Tsukune pleads as he reaches out a hand for help. Reiji suddenly appears in front of them and says, "Are they now? I guess I'll hit them and see how they like it then." He punches all three of them, lining them up perfectly to launch them off into the distance with a single punch. Kurumu, Moka, and Yukari all show up come running out of the school to them as they see Tsukune laying on the ground. "What happened? We heard some noises and came to see what was going on.", Yukari explains as she checks on Tsukune. "Oh nothing much, just some guys beating the living daylight out of Tsukune. The typical average day stuff.", Reiji explains sarcastically. "What? What did they look like?", Kurumu asks furiously as she and Moka check Tsukune for any serious wounds. Reiji describes the three losers to them, making sure to explain their disappointing defenses and lack of spine, and Kurumu exclaims, "Next time I see those jerks, I'm gonna show them what happens when you pick on my Tsukune!" "I already sent them flying, so they should already have gotten the message, unless they're dumber than they look.", Reiji explains as he looks off into the direction he launched them in. "Are you okay Tsukune? Can you move?", Moka asks as she stands up and holds out her hand to help him up. He takes her hand and she pulls him up off of the ground as he says, "Yeah, I'm fine. I have to head back to my dorm and do something. See you guys tomorrow.", before running off. "I guess that's the end of that. I'll see you guys later, I guess.", Reiji adds as he heads back to his dorm for the rest of the day.

The next day at lunch, Kurumu, Reiji, Moka, Tsukune, and Yukari are all eating their meals together at one of the lunch tables in the cafeteria. Kurumu looks up to the others and asks, "Have any of you guys seen those guys that were picking on Tsukune? I think one of them has been stalking me?" Yukari gasps and says, "Me too, was he taking photos of you too?" "No, he just kept staring at me. I'd rather have had him just take a picture and leave me alone.", Kurumu replies as she thinks about the odd feeling of being watched all day. "I haven't seen any of the little shits. They probably don't want to come anywhere near me after what I did to them.", Reiji replies as he eats his sandwich. "I haven't seen them either.", Moka adds with a confused look on her face. "We can handle ourselves, but what if they come after Tsukune again?", Yukari asks with a concerned look as she looks to Tsukune. "I say we kill them and be done with it. Anyone else?", Reiji suggests with his mouth half full of food. He looks around and nobody says anything. "Nobody? Alright then we'll do this the goody two shoes way. Anyone have a plan?", Reiji ask he puts down what's left of his sandwich and focuses on his friends. "We could go tell a teacher.", Moka suggests, but the other three shake their heads no. "No, they wouldn't be any help. Most of the teachers here barely want to teach, they won't want to interfere with student affairs.", Yukari explains with a sigh. "I know! We'll be Tsukune's personal body guards until those nerds decide to leave him alone.", Kurumu suggests courageously as she looks over to Moka and Yukari. Reiji laughs, earning a glare from the succubus, before saying, "You'll only make them more jealous. If anything, I'll have to be his body guard and beat the shit out of them every time they come near him." "I'll be fine guys, really. You don't have to do this all for me.", Tsukune says, hoping that they will stop, but to no avail. "But last time they beat the stuffing out of you!", Yukari says with a worried frown on her face. "She's right Tsukune, you aren't exactly strong in your human form so you should just let us protect you for now.", Reiji suggests with a stern glare at the boy. "Okay, but I have some personal things to take care of so I have to go. See you guys later.", Tsukune says as he gets up from the table and runs off.

Later in the afternoon, Reiji is in the forest smoking a cigarette when he sees Tsukune going towards the bus stop with a few bags. "Well this is interesting.", Reiji says to himself after blowing a puff of smoke in the air. "I guess I'll follow him and make sure he doesn't get himself into trouble.", Reiji thinks to himself as he puts out his cigarette and starts to follow Tsukune from the forest. Reiji slowly follows Tsukune to the bus stop where he seems to be waiting for the bus to arrive. Suddenly, almost as if they just appeared out of nowhere, the three guys from the other day show up and the guy who seems to be their leader shouts, "There you are, Aono! We've finally got you where we want you! Now that you're alone and off school grounds, we'll finally destroy you once and for all!" They all transform into their underwhelming monster forms (A faceless blob, a long neck guy, and a giant umbrella with a face and legs) and Tsukune asks, "Is..is that it?" "You even mock our monster forms!? To what lows won't you go, Tsukune Aono!? We will never forgive you for this! Prepare to die!", the long necked boy shouts as the three monsters charge at the unarmed boy, but Reiji dive kicks the umbrella guy knocking him into the other two nerds and stopping their oncoming attack. "Wow you three are pathetic. I don't think I can even consider you three monsters if that's all it takes to knock you down.", Reiji says mockingly as he walks towards Tsukune. "Reiji, I...", Tsukune says before Reiji pats him on the head. "Don't worry about it. Friends help each other out, right?", Reiji says with a slight smile on his face, catching Tsukune off guard. Tsukune smiles back to him and is surprised to hear a familiar voice shouting his name up. The boys all look up to see Kurumu flying in with Moka and Yukari hanging onto her arms. "Tsukune!", they all shout from the air. "What are they doing here?", Tsukune asks with a confused look on his face. Reiji shrugs as they land in front of them and they all rush over to Tsukune. "We're here to help you Tsukune.", Moka says with a smile. "Why is it always me who gets saved?", Tsukune mutters to himself in a depressed tone. "You aren't the only one being saved you know. Look at them, you help save all three of them.", Reiji explains as he points towards the girls. "Yeah, you helped save me from that other Moka.", Kurumu says with a smile as she extends her nails, ready to fight. "And you helped save me too.", Yukari adds with a wink as she waves her wand in the air. "You saved me too Tsukune. You were my first friend and I can't ever thank you enough for that.", Moka says with a tear in her eye as she looks him in the eyes. "Kurumu, Yukari, Moka.", Tsukune says as he realizes his role in saving all of them. "Save the lovey dovey shit for later. We have some asses to kick.", Reiji suggests as he cracks his knuckles. "What do we do now?", the blob asks the umbrella man. "Yeah, we're no match for all of them at once.", the long neck guy adds as he looks to the other members of the club. "Individually maybe, but if we use our secret technique...", the umbrella guy begins to say confidently as he looks to his friends. "Yeah, we can still do this in that form!", the blob exclaims with excitement as he pumps his fist into the air with pride. "We'll finally have our wonderful ladies to ourselves!", the long neck guy shouts with enthusiasm as his neck spirals and swing around. "Alright then let's fuse!", the umbrella shouts as the three of them fuse to form a giant blob like amalgam. "Well looks like we have the advantage now.", the amalgam says, using a voice that combines all three of their annoying nerdy voices into one. "Hardly, I can still take you on in this form without even putting any effort into it.", Reiji says confidently as he releases a wave of monster energy at the amalgam, blowing it back a few feet without any effort. "We aren't scared this time. We have power too.", the amalgam explains as it swings its giant fist towards Reiji. Reiji dodges the attack with ease, but the force of the attack hitting the ground causes Tsukune to fall and pull off Moka's rosary, releasing Inner Moka. "You brought me out to deal with this sorry excuse for a monster?", Inner Moka growls as she looks to the amalgam with her usual annoyed glare. "What? You think that too?", the amalgam says in disbelief as they're mocked yet again. "Hey Moka, want to make things interesting?", Reiji asks as he transforms into his S class form. "What do you have in mind?", Inner Moka asks with a slightly curious look on her face. "How about a game of ping-pong? Whoever drops them first loses.", Reiji suggest with a bit of enthusiasm. "Sure, might as well make this interesting.", Inner Moka replies with a slight grin. "Great, I'll serve.", Reiji says as he disappears, causing the amalgam to look around frantically. "Hey, where did he go?", the amalgam asks as it looks around. Reiji appears behind them and kicks the giant full force towards Moka, sending the blob of flesh flying towards the young vampire. She sees it coming and kicks it right back without any real effort. "Good reflexes. I should expect as much from a vampire.", Reiji says as he kicks the amalgam back to her without letting it touch the ground. They continue this for a few minutes until the amalgam splits back into the three nerds who've passed out from the overwhelming constant damage they were doing to them. "Damn, I guess I lose then. At least I got a little fun out of beating the shit out of these guys.", Reiji says in disappointment as the three nerds land in front of him. Reiji and Moka look over to Tsukune and Reiji transforms back into his normal form. "I guess you guys saved me, again.", Tsukune says, a little disappointed in himself as he was the damsal yet again. Moka walks past Tsukune and says, "Your leaving doesn't work for me Tsukune." Reiji and Tsukune are both confused and say, "Leaving?", at the same time then look at each other. "Yes, if you leave then that means no food for yours truly and it would make the other Moka cry.", Inner Moka continues as if she had thoroughly planned this speech. "Though Moka not sucking on you would be nice, I couldn't bare the thought of you leaving Tsukune.", Kurumu says with tears in her eyes as she grabs the boy from behind and cuddles his head into her breasts. "Yeah, please don't leave us.", Yukari begs as she grabs Tsukune's leg. Reiji starts to laugh uncontrollably, which gains everyone's attention. "You're a real brat, you know that? You don't even know why he came all the way out here!", Reiji exclaims through his laughter as he points at Inner Moka. "What did I tell you about calling me a brat?", Moka growls, aggrivated by his remark. Reiji looks up at her with a cold look and says, "Why don't you ask him why he's out here instead of assuming and making an ass out of yourselves." The vampire looks over to Tsukune with a confused look to see he's trying desperately not to have a nosebleed. "So what are you out here for Tsukune?", Kurumu and Yukari ask as they looks to him from their positions, letting go of the boy so he can regain his composure. "I have some letters that I want to mail back to my parents back home and I was hoping that the bus driver might help get them there.", Tsukune explains a bit embarrassed. Inner Moka looks away, embarrassed, and Yukari and Kurumu slowly put it all together. "So you weren't trying to run away?", Kurumu asks with a slightly less confused look on her face. "And it was all just a matter of Moka jumping to conclusions?", Yukari adds as she and Kurumu glare at the now blushing Inner Moka. "Basically, Moka done fucked up.", Reiji notes as he lights himself a cigarette. Moka glares at him and he just grins because he knows that she knows he's right. "Shut up before I put you in your place.", Inner Moka threatens as she snatches her rosary from Tsukune. "Maybe some other time. We don't have time for another showdown today.", Reiji replies as he continues to smoke his cigarette. The bus pulls up and Tsukune hands him the letters and asks him to mail them for him. "Sure thing kid. It's an honorable thing keeping in contact with your folks like this.", the bus driver replies as he takes the letters off the boy's hands. The bus drives off through the tunnel and Moka is still blushing from embarrassment. "I'll never understand you guys.", Inner Moka mutters to herself before returning the rosary to her neck and turning herself back into the other Moka. Moka falls into Tsukune's arms as she unconsciously says, "Please don't leave me Tsukune." They hug and Reiji says, "Okay, enough of this."

Suddenly it is the next day in Ms. Nekanome's class and she goes on explain, "As from this day forward, there will be a pay phone down in the main office. It's for everyone to use, so feel free to call home with it if you feel a bit homesick. It can even make calls to the Human World." "What!?", Tsukune exclaims in disbelief as he stands up from his seat. Everyone looks at him like he's crazy, which causes his face to turn a dark red before he sits back down. She giggles to herself before saying, "On top of that, due to popular demand, the bus will now arrive every day rather than once per month." "Wait, does that mean-", Kurumu begins to say before looking over to Tsukune. Moka looks over to Tsukune with a saddened look before leaping over her desk while shouting, "Please don't leave, Tsukune!" As she leaps over her seat, she bites down into his neck and drinks his blood, causing the boy to let out a sudden yelp. "Oh come on! We almost went a whole chapter without this shit!", Reiji shouts at the girl, annoyed that Moka ruined their chance at a small, but important mile stone.


	6. Chapter 6: This Is Fishy

It's another day in Ms. Nekanome's class as she says, "Okay class, today you all will be joining a club. Doing this should give you a better understanding of humans and their culture. So go on down to the club fair and find yourselves a club!" Later, Moka, Tsukune, and Reiji are all looking for a club to join at the club fair. They look around and see a few clubs like: the ghost hunting club, the mummy club, and the chemistry club, but none of them interest the group at all. That is until Tsukune notices the swimming club. "We should join the swimming club. I was on the footba... I mean, I was on the swimming team at my old school.", Tsukune suggests enthusiastically as he points over to the club' booth. "But I...", Moka begins to say before the swimming club teacher interrupts her by saying, "She doesn't seem too interested, but you two boys can still join.", and winks at them suggestively. "I'm not quite convi...", Reiji manages to say before Moka shouts, "We're all joining!", as she glares at the teacher.

Later at the school's swimming pool, Reiji is sitting in a sunbathing chair in swimming trunks with a pair of sunglasses on while Moka sits on the ground next to him pouting. "Reiji, you aren't sitting out here because I'm not swimming, are you?", Moka asks him curiously. "No, demons and water don't mix too well.", Reiji explains as he pulls down his shades to look at her. "What about you?", Reiji asks as he sits back in his chair. She sits there in silence. "Fine then, I'll just stare at clouds and enjoy myself.", Reiji replies as he looks off into the cloudless sky. "Fucking sky, ruining my plans.", Reiji rambles as he shakes his fist at the sky. He looks over at Tsukune, who seems to be enjoying the water. "Maybe today will be a normal day after all.", Reiji says to himself with a slight smile as he shuts his eyes and dozes off. Suddenly he wakes up to shouting. "You only joined this club to pick up chicks, didn't you!?", Moka shouts at the top of her lungs, furious with Tsukune's actions. "What the hell did I miss? Did you get laid or something Tsukune?", Reiji asks sarcastically as he sits up and takes off his shades. "No!", Tsukune shouts in his defense. Before Tsukune can explain himself, Moka runs off and as she does this the teacher splashes her with a bit of water, causing the vampire to let out a slight wince in pain. Reiji sighs and says, "I'll make myself useful and make sure she doesn't do anything stupid. Don't get yourself killed while I'm gone, Tsukune.", before grabbing a towel and going to find Moka, but as he leaves he hears Kurumu and Yukari tackle Tsukune, causing a giant splash of water. "Good, they can keep an eye on Tsukune for a while.", Reiji says to himself as he starts to track down Moka.

He follows some wet shoe prints with water droplets near them until he comes to an alley. "Did she already manage to get herself killed? Fucking idiot.", Reiji mutters to himself as he sneaks near the entrance of the alley. As he gets closer, he hears Moka and Inner Moka talking to each other. "You idiot! Why did you get so close to the pool!? You know that vampires are weak to water!", Inner Moka shouts to the outer Moka, scolding her like a child. "You and I share the same body so we share the same weaknesses. You shouldn't let that human string you along like he is.", the Inner Moka goes on as Reiji walks down the alley. "There you are, I brought a towel so you can dry off.", Reiji says as he tosses the towel at the girl, causing her to flinch. "Reiji?", the outer Moka says in disbelief before looking down at the dry towel in her lap. "Damn, that water is kicking your ass. Didn't know that an all powerful S class monster could be hindered by a few drops of water.", Reiji says jokingly. "It was a bit more than a few drops Reiji.", outer Moka shoots back, frustrated. Reiji rolls his eyes at her and before saying, "Come on, you know I was just joking." She starts to dry herself off, but it isn't helping the fact that her clothes are still soaked. She starts to get zapped again by the water and Reiji leans against the wall opposite of her and lights himself a cigarette. "You know, originally I thought that Yukari would be the brat of the group, but that Inner Moka turns out to be the real brat.", Reiji says, disappointed in the Inner Moka. "What did he just say?", Inner Moka growls from the rosary. "You heard what I said. And yes, I can hear you, brat.", Reiji replies after blowing some smoke down the alley. Both Mokas are shocked that he can hear her and he just gives them a cold look. "You both are either too stupid or too thick headed to figure out why Tsukune wanted to join this club and you're just throwing darts at a dart board trying to figure it out.", Reiji says before taking another drag from his cigarette. "If Tsukune wanted to find other girls then he'd go find other girls, but he isn't because he isn't that kind of guy.", Reiji explains as he grins at them. "How do you know? You can't be certain that he isn't just stringing us all along!", Inner Moka shouts, enraged by Tsukune's behavior. Reiji sighs and says, "You're technically right. I can't exactly see the future, I'm a demon, not a fortune teller, but I can tell from how poorly Tsukune handles the four of you that he really doesn't seem to want or need any more girls. And yes, I'm counting you too brat." Inner Moka starts to growl with anger as Reiji just chuckles at her rage. "Get to the point, Reiji. Why would Tsukune do this if he isn't trying to pick up other girls?", Moka says as she grabs her rosary to muffles the Inner Moka. Reiji starts to laugh uncontrollably and sarcastically says, "I wonder why such a person with very few talents would want to show his friends something that he thought he was good at. It couldn't possibly be to impress you four girls. Oh no, he must be trying to have sex with the teacher or something." When she hears this, Outer Moka curls up into fetal position on the ground and doesn't move. "Does Tsukune know?", Reiji asks curiously. "Know what?", Outer Moka responds as she glances up to him with a confused look on her face. "Did you tell him that vampires were weak to water or did you assume that this was common knowledge for humans?", Reiji asks in a more serious tone. Neither Moka responds and Reiji says, "I can accept the fact that you just assumed that he might be picking up other girls. That's just common paranoia, but assuming that Tsukune: a normal human from the human world with no experience what so ever with monsters or the monster world, would just know that vampires have a natural weakness to water is beyond the levels of stupidity I expected from you two.""Where is he then?", Inner Moka asks with a growl. "What do you mean brat?", Reiji asks mockingly. "If he cared for us he'd be here checking on us, right? Then where is he?", Inner Moka shouts, frustrated by the demon's confusing claims. Reiji chuckles and says, "Do you two really think you are the only pieces on the chess board?" Moka looks at him shocked and asks, "What does that mean?" "Remember, Yukari and Kurumu both also care for Tsukune and want to make him their boyfriend. They're probably taking advantage of your absence as we speak to try and win Tsukune's heart.", Reiji explains to both Mokas. "We have to stop them from taking our Tsukune!", Outer Moka shouts as she tries to get up, but she falls once the water starts to zap her again. "You can't do very much in this state.", Reiji says as he catches her. Moka starts to cry and hugs Reiji, burying her face in his chest. "Hey, don't cry on me! What do you want me to do about it?", Reiji shouts as she keeps hugging him, refusing to let go. "Make it stop.", Outer Moka pleads, but Reiji just laughs. As he does this, he looks down at the girl and says, "I could make it stop, but you have to let me go first." She releases him and asks, "How can you...", then Reiji releases a wave of his focused monster energy at her, vaporizing the water in her clothes and drying them completely. "Demon monster energy can vaporize water on contact. If I were to go into the pool and exert myself, my monster energy would slowly drain the pool until it was completely empty.", Reiji explains as he rubs the back of his neck. Moka starts to make her way back to the pool, running at full speed, before the Inner Moka says, "Even if you go back you still won't be able to swim with the others." Reiji sighs and says, "You're such a brat. Haven't you learned a damn thing? It doesn't matter if we can't participate, all that matters is that we support Tsukune in whatever way we can." They make their way to the pool in silence.

Once they get close to the pool they hear people screaming and not in a good way. They run up the steps to see that the swimming club members are all mermaids. "I knew these girls smelled weird.", Reiji says to himself as he looks for Tsukune in the pool. "Help!", Tsukune shouts as the swimming teacher and the other mermaids start to swim around him creating a whirlpool. "I'm coming Tsukune!", Moka shouts as she jumps into the pool. "You fucking idiot!", Reiji exclaims as he leaps into the pool with her. He quickly transforms into his S class form and releases wave after wave of monster energy, creating an air bubble and slowly draining the pool. "You fucking idiot, let's go get Tsukune before he dies.", Reiji growls in frustration as he pulls Moka along. They slowly make their way over to Tsukune, who is currently surrounded by many mermaids. Reiji grabs Tsukune's leg through the water and pulls him under. "What? Where did he go?", the swimming teacher asks before looking down in the water. She's surprised to see Reiji jump out of the pool with both Moka and Tsukune. Tsukune goes to hug her, but slips and rips off her rosary releasing the Inner Moka. She glares at Reiji and he says, "You can stare at me later, we have bigger fish to fry. I'll deal with the water, you knock her out." Reiji quickly jumps into the pool and starts to charge his monster energy. "Get him!", the teacher orders and the other mermaids start to swim towards him to attack. "Game over.", Reiji says as he releases a massive wave of monster energy, vaporizing all of the water in the pool. Reiji begins to laugh uncontrollably as Moka slowly walks up to the swimming teacher who says, "Hey, we can work this out. No need for violence." Inner Moka glares at her and says, "It's time for you to learn your place!", before kicking her into a nearby net. With the threat eliminated, Reiji transforms back into his normal self and thinks to himself, "Am I losing control or am I naturally this crazy...? Doesn't matter." He then turns his attention to Tsukune and Inner Moka. Tsukune sticks his hand out to help her up out of the pool, but she slaps it away instead and takes her rosary back. "You're nothing but an inconsiderate boy who thinks of nobody but himself.", Inner Moka scolds him as she walks away from him. "Damn, that's cold.", Reiji adds as he walks up to Tsukune. "She's right though, Reiji. I was inconsiderate. I didn't ask how Moka felt about joining this club and made her join even though she didn't want to...", Tsukune says with a depressed look on his face as he watches Inner Moka leave by herself.

The next day, Reiji watches Tsukune apologize to Moka by the swimming pool's main gates as the kind boy tries desperately to get her forgiveness. She seems to forgive him, but then they look up to Ms. Nekanome, who starts talking to them from the pool side. Reiji joins them and hears them agree to join the Newspaper Club. "Newspapers? Sure, I'm in.", Reiji says with a grin, happy that there's finally something simple to do. Suddenly they hear Yukari and Kurumu shouting, "We want to join too Tsukune!", which excites Ms. Nekanome enough to cannon ball into the pool which causes a rainbow to form above the group. Everyone except for Reiji is mesmerized by the rainbow, as Reiji just shouts, "A rainbow, really!? A fucking rainbow!? What is this, a fucking children's story or something!?" The girls eventually get him to calm down and Moka says, "Um Tsukune, since I didn't have anything to eat this morning, I'm a bit hungry. Do you mind?" "Not at all.", Tsukune replies as he reveals his neck to her. As he lets her bite his neck, she lets out a happy moan and he screams out in pain. Reiji just sighs before saying, "Great, let's just throw that trope in there too, why not?"


	7. Chapter 7: The Big Bad Wolf

It's a nice day outside as Reiji walks to school. As he walks to school however, he sees Tsukune being suffocated by Kurumu's boobs and decides to help him out. He rips Tsukune from her and says to Kurumu, "Are you trying to kill him or something?" "Yeah Kurumu! You could have killed him!", Yukari exclaims as she tries to drop a golden wash tub on her head. The wash tub misses and hits Tsukune in the face instead, knocking him out. "Tsukune!", Moka shouts in a panic as he hits the ground. He lays on the ground twitching as Moka checks to see if he's okay. She notices there's a small gash on his forehead and starts to become hypnotized by the smell his blood before leaning in to bite him, but Reiji slaps her upside the back of her head. He then does the same thing to Kurumu and Yukari and says, "All three of you need to try to kill Tsukune a little less often! I'm getting real sick of having to save him from you three on a daily basis!" They all rub the bumps on the back of their heads as they look at him with puppy dog eyes. He glares at them and they stop immediately. "Our first club meeting is today so we better not be late.", says Reiji as he picks up a half conscious Tsukune. They go to the club room and wait for Ms. Nekanome to show up.

After roughly ten minutes of waiting, Ms. Nekanome arrives and they begin their meeting. "Welcome to the Yokai Academy Newspaper Club!", Ms. Nekanome cheers with enthusiasm. Everyone looks around and they all realize that they are the only ones who joined. "So this is everyone?", Tsukune asks with a confused looks as he searches for any sign of other members. "Oh no, there's one more person. Our club president.", Ms. Nekanome replies as she holds up a single finger. Reiji rolls his eyes and asks, "Where is this 'club president' then?" Suddenly the door opens and Ms. Nekanome says, "There he is right now, meet your club president." They all glance over to see who it is, but couldn't see the person past the two large bouquets of roses they brought. A boy pops his head around the bouquets and says, "Hello, my name is Genei." with a smile on his face. "I don't like this weirdo.", Reiji thinks to himself as he looks too the boy's overly kind smile. Genei gives one bouquet to Moka and the other to Kurumu, but suddenly realizes that he didn't have any for Yukari. He snatches one of the roses from Kurumu's bouquet and gives it to Yukari. "Wow, no flowers for me? How rude.", Reiji says sarcastically, earning a slight chuckle from the president. As heads to the door, she says, "I have some classwork to attend to today, so Genei is going to handle today's meeting. I'll see you all again tomorrow, okay?" When the door finally closes behind the teacher, Genei continues introducing himself, saying, "My name is Genei Morioka and I am the Newspaper Club's president. I Used to do everything around here, but since I have a team now we can divide and conquer." "Does anyone have any ideas for the next paper?", Genei asks as he looks to everyone for ideas. Everyone tries to think of a good story and Kurumu finally comes up with one before saying, "What about that peeping Tom on campus?" "Yeah, I heard about that. Apparently he is too fast for anyone to catch him.", Moka adds with a nod. "Sounds good to me. First we'll have to ask around and get some details about what this peeper might look like. The people are our strongest resource so lets start hanging up fliers to have people inform us about any leads they might have. ", Genei suggests as he gets up from his seat. "Why don't we just hunt this guy down and break his legs?", Reiji asks bluntly as he looks over to their leader. Genei cringes and looks over to him and asks, "Are you serious? We can't just go around hurting people." Reiji sighs and says, "Oh well, but if I find this guy first I'm breaking his legs, got it?"

As the Newspaper Club hangs up fliers, asking for help from the student body with any leads they might have on the peeping Tom, Tsukune, Yukari and Reiji were on one team getting one side of the campus and the rest were on the other team getting the other side. Reiji is able to put up almost all of the fliers alone before he runs out of staples. "Damn, do we have any more staples?", Reiji asks as he opens the stapler to see that it is completely empty. "Nope, Genei should have some though.", Yukari replies as she carries more fliers in her tiny hands. "Then we'll have to go back and ask him then.", Tsukune suggests as they walk back to Genei. Tsukune and Reiji walk together, but Yukari falls behind with her shorter legs. As they turned the corner they both see that Genei is staring at Kurumu's and Moka's panties. Tsukune goes to say something, but Reiji stops him, pulling him back behind the corner and whispered into his ear, "Wait, I have an idea. Just follow my lead." Reiji turns the corner and sneaks up behind Genei. Once he was behind the completely unaware Genei he shouted, "Wow Genei, isn't it a bit early to be doing squats!?", and Moka and Kurumu both turn around to see Genei looking up their skirts. "Genei!", the two girls shout as they jump down from the bench. Genei quickly stands up straight and says, "I can explain.", before the two girls slap him across the face. He looks over at a grinning Reiji and says, "I'll get you for this.", and runs off. Reiji laughs and looks over to the girls and asks, "So, how did he convince you to get up on a bench and put those fliers so high?" They both blush and Moka says, "He said that the taller monsters wouldn't want to look at our fliers if they were too low so...", and Reiji interrupts her with his uncontrollable laughter. "You two fell for that shit? Come on. You two are smarter than that, right?", Reiji says as he gets himself under control. Moka and Kurumu look at each other and nod before slapping Reiji across the face. "I'll admit, I deserve that.", Reiji says as he rubs his face. "We still have fliers to put up. Do you two have any left over staples?", Tsukune asks, trying to change the subject. "Yeah, here.", Kurumu replies as she hands Tsukune some of the staples. Reiji snags them before saying, "Yoink.", and reloads his stapler. "Maybe that wasn't a good idea.", Kurumu says with a worried look on her face as she contemplates all the things Reiji might do with the staples. Reiji glares at the girls and they flinch. "We better finish putting up these fliers, Tsukune.", Reiji says calmly. Moka and Kurumu breath a sigh of relief and Moka asks, "Wasn't Yukari with you two? Where is she?", and Yukari turns the corner panting from her long walk. "What is it shorty? Out of breath trying to keep up with us?", Reiji asks the little witch jokingly. "You jerks left me behind!", Yukari shouts in her frustration. Reiji sighs in response and says, "You know what, I'm feeling generous today. How about I put you on my shoulders and you can rest a little while helping us put up the fliers?" Yukari isn't sure if this is a trick, but reluctantly replies with, "Sure." Reiji quickly picks the small girl and her fliers up and places her on his shoulders before handing the fliers back to her. "Now come on Tsukune. We have work to do.", Reiji says as he walks off with Yukari on his shoulders. "Wait up for me!", Tsukune shouts as he runs to catch up with them. "Is Reiji actually being nice today?", Moka asks with a confused glance over to Kurumu. "I think the world is ending.", Kurumu replies with a concerned glance down the hallway.

Later that day, Reiji is walking around the campus with Tsukune. "You know, if I find you smoking like me I'm going to kick your ass, right Tsukune?", Reiji says in a surprisingly serious tone. "I won't smoke. I swear!", Tsukune quickly replies, worried for his own physical health. "Good.", Reiji says happily with a nod as he lights himself a cigarette. Suddenly a nearby window opens and suddenly a girl shouts to them, "Stop peeping at us you perverts!" Reiji looks over to see who it might be, but it is an unnamed background character. "Who exactly are you?", Reiji asks the half naked girl. "I'm Mo..", she starts to say, but Reiji interrupts by saying, "Wait, I don't really care. And neither does the reader." "What!? How dare you!?", the girl exclaims before her friends join her at the window to defend her. At this point there were three girls trying to yell at Reiji at the same time. "You three are nothing more than background filler. Go disappear in the hallway or something like good background filler.", Reiji says to them mockingly, causing the trio to growl at him even more. "We'll come out there and kick your asses you creeps!", the first girl proclaims as she shakes her fist at him in her fury. "Oh really?", Reiji asks with an excited glare up at the girls. He releases a wave of monster energy and glares at the girls causing them to slam the window shut and close the blinds. "That's what I thought.", Reiji finishes triumphantly before the two continue on their way.

Later that day in an empty class room, Reiji and Tsukune are sitting together in separate desks as Moka and Kurumu, who are standing in front of them, look down upon them with judging glares. "So we heard you two were peeping.", Kurumu claims as she leans in to look Tsukune in his eyes. "We weren't peeping, I swear! You have to listen!", Tsukune shouts, trying to defend himself. "Fine. Then explain why you two were outside their window when they looked out.", Moka says as she glares at Tsukune. "We were just passing by when they just so happened to look out. Honestly this is all just one big misunderstanding.", Tsukune tries to explain, but Moka and Kurumu aren't buying it and just glare at them in silence. Reiji sighs and says, "What exactly makes you two think that I would want to waste my time looking at some naked nobodies?", "Like you have anything better to do. All you do is walk around campus smoking all day.", Kurumu says mockingly. "What's that supposed to mean!?", Reiji shouts, infuriated by her comment. The two girls leave the room and leave the boys alone for now. "What are we going to do Reiji?", Tsukune asks as he looks down trying to find a way to prove their innocence. Reiji shrugs and says, "This'll blow over eventually. Might as well not worry about it now.", as he walks out of the room. Tsukune eventually leaves the room and as he reaches the bottom of the stairs, Reiji sees him talking to Genei in the hallway. "Interesting.", Reiji thinks to himself as he starts to follow Tsukune and Genei from the shadows.

They walk around the campus until they finally stop in front of a high up window with some barrels nearby. "What's he up to?", Reiji asks himself as he sits in a nearby tree and watches them. Genei directs Tsukune to move the barrels under the window and Tsukune foolishly does as he asks. Tsukune suddenly realizes that he is looking through the window to the girl's locker room and Genei takes a photo. "Damn Tsukune, what will Moka say when she sees that you're the peeping Tom?", Genei asks sarcastically before he runs off with the photo. "Genei, you bastard.", Tsukune says before he hit in the head with a can of hair spray. "Looks like Genei is the peeper and he's setting up Tsukune to take the fall. I better do something before Tsukune gets the shit kicked out of him.", Reiji says as the angry mob of girls starts to surround Tsukune, preventing his escape. Before they can attack Tsukune, Moka shows up and asks him, "Is what they're saying true, Tsukune? Were you peeping on them?" "NO! Well, I did look at them, but-", Tsukune begins to say before he is cut off by the girls saying, "Look he just confessed. Lets get him!" As Moka runs off in tears, Reiji jumps in to stop the mob. "Sorry ladies, but we have to go.", Reiji says as he throws Tsukune over his shoulder and disappears. "Where the hell did they go?", the girls shout as they try to find the boys in their wet clothes. Reiji appears in the woods with Tsukune and says, "That probably confused them a bit. Are you alright Tsukune?" Tsukune nods and says, "Yeah, but what about Moka and the others?" Reiji laughs and says, "Don't worry, I saw Genei tell you to move those barrels and I'll make him tell everyone everything, even if I have to force it out of him." Tsukune looks a bit panicked and says, "Please don't go doing anything too extreme over me." "You just stay here while I deal with Genei.", Reiji says as he walks off towards the school.

Reiji makes his way to the roof where Moka, Kurumu, and Yukari are already confronting him for being the peeper. "So you three were smart enough to figure it out on your own. Good.", Reiji says, impressed the girls managed to figure it out. "Yeah, he wasn't very good at covering his lies or his tracks.", Yukari replies with a grin on her face. Genei sighs and says, "I was hoping to do this the easy way, but I guess we just have to do it the hard way.", as he starts to transform into his werewolf form. Tsukune, ignoring Reiji's advice, makes his way up to the roof as Genei finishes transforming into a full werewolf. "Tsukune? Didn't I tell you to wait!?", Reiji shouts, annoyed that Tsukune didn't listen. "Yeah, but I couldn't let you face him without being there. It felt wrong.", Tsukune says, trying to explain why he came. Reiji laughs and says, "Well, I guess you're here now so you might as well enjoy the show of me kicking this mutt's ass." Reiji transforms into his S class form and charges at Genei, but he dodges at light speeds. "Hah, too slow.", Genei scolds the boy before he hits Tsukune into Moka. "Now you've done it.", Reiji says as he points towards the rosary now in Tsukune's hands. Moka then transforms into Inner Moka. "So you're a vampire then? Great, if a vampire is going to be my woman then I'm going to have to show you who the real pack leader is.", Genei proclaims as he charges at her. Inner Moka swings at him with a powerful kick, but the attack misses. "What are you aiming at? I'm over here.", Genei says smugly as he zooms across the rooftop at light speed. "Damn mutt.", Inner Moka growls, already sick of Genei's shit. "Vampires and demons might have strength, but werewolves beat both in speed! And werewolves get stronger with the phases of the moon and when the full moon is out we are unstoppable!", Genei explains confidently as he begins to cut up Moka's clothing with his claws. "Reiji, you have a plan, right?", Yukari and Kurumu ask him. Reiji nods and begins to focus on Genei's movements. "All I need to do is predict his next move and I can... There!", Reiji thinks as he reaches his hand out and grabs Genei by the throat. "What!?", Genei exclaims as Reiji lifts him off of the ground and begins to strangle him. "I think instead of breaking your legs I'll just snap your neck, Genei. It's a lot quicker that way.", Reiji says as he begins to squeeze down tighter on the boy's throat. "Reiji, you can stop choking him now.", Kurumu suggests, a bit concerned. "Kurumu, choking is what happens when you eat too fast. What I'm doing is strangling.", Reiji explains coldly as he stares into Genei's eyes. "Fine! You can stop STRANGLING him now!", Yukari shouts, actually concern about Genei's life. Reiji looks over at Yukari and Kurumu and back at Genei, who's eye's are almost entirely lifeless. "Fine, but I still have one thing left to do.", Reiji says as he throws Genei to Moka's feet. "Oh thank god! I thought you were going to kill me.", Genei says after he gasps for air. Reiji slowly walks towards him and lifts his foot up to stomp on Genei. Reiji stomps, but misses because Moka kicked Genei off of the roof. "Why'd you do that, you brat?", Reiji asks, infuriated by her interference. "Stop whining. He just plummeted off of the roof of the school, so he probably broke something.", Inner Moka says as she turns away from Reiji. "That isn't the point!", Reiji shouts as his aura begins to flare up. "Then what is the point? Did you just want an excuse to hurt someone? Is that what demons do?", Moka asks with a glare back to the boy. Reiji growls and almost hits her, but Tsukune steps in front of his fist forcing him to stop it a centimeter from his face. "We'll settle this another time perhaps.", Reiji says as he transforms back into his normal self. "I hope so.", Inner Moka replies as she snags her rosary back from Tsukune and returns to normal Moka.

The very next morning, Tsukune and the others hand out newspapers with the front article on Genei being the campus peeper. They all look over to see an angry mob of girls chasing after him and him running away as fast as possible.


	8. Chapter 8: Cold Hearted

It's another wonderful morning with Tsukune, Reiji and the girls as they all hand out today's newspaper. "Wow, we gave out a lot of papers.", Kurumu says in amazement as the group comes together. "Yeah, we should throw a party or something to celebrate!", Yukari happily suggests as she looks to Tsukune for a response. "We should ask Genei first.", Moka says with a hesitant look on her face. Tsukune then looks around before asking, "Where is Genei anyways?" "That mutt's probably looking to find himself some more ladies to take half naked photos of.", Reiji guesses as he lights himself a cigarette. "So, what should we have at this party thing?", Reiji asks, trying to change the subject to something more important. "You know, some drinks and some snacks. We'll all just hangout and have a good time.", Moka explains with a smile. "Okay, but no alcohol.", Tsukune adds sternly, knowing only trouble can come from drinking at their age. Kurumu sighs and says, "Fine.", before they all hear an unfamiliar voice say, "You lot are all buddy buddy, aren't you? Personally I never understood that line of thinking." They turn to see a girl with long purple hair and aqua eyes. "What is that supposed to mean?!", Kurumu furiously asks, taking her remark as an insult. "Newspaper.", the girl says as she holds out her hand. "Can I have one?", she asks as she looks at them. Everyone checks to see if they have any left and Reiji is the only one with a newspaper left. The boy hands her the newspaper and says, "Here ya go." She then starts to stare at him and he asks, "Can I help you?" "So you're this Tsukune Aono?", she asks confused. Reiji takes the cigarette out of his mouth and says, "No, I'm Reiji Oni. That other guy over there is Tsukune Aono.", as he points over to Tsukune. She looks over to Tsukune then walks over to him and says, "I like the articles that you write. They're always from the viewpoint of the weak, I like that." "Thanks, I worked pretty hard on those.", Tsukune replies nervously as she invades his personal space. "I'll see you later, Tsukune.", the girl says as she takes her paper and walks off. Once she's out of sight, Kurumu, Yukari and Moka cling onto Tsukune and Kurumu asks, "Yeesh, what a weirdo, right? Do you know that creep Tsukune?" "No, I haven't seen her before.", Tsukune replies as he tries to recall if he has seen her at all before. "She's probably just a fan of your work. We shouldn't worry about it.", Reiji adds as he smokes his cigarette. "Yeah, classes are going to start soon, so we better hurry.", Yukari says as she starts running to her class and the others follow suit.

Later, Tsukune and the others are in Ms. Nekanome's class as she takes roll. " Ms. Akashia?", the teacher calls out. "Here.", Moka replies. " Mr. Aono?", she continues. "Present.", Tsukune replies as he raises his hand. " Ms. Shirayuki?", she continues, but there isn't a reply. " Ms. Shirayuki?", she repeats as she looks up from her paper to see the same empty seat in front of Tsukune's desk. "I guess she isn't here again.", the teacher says with a disappointed frown as she goes to check the girl's name off her list. Suddenly the classroom door opens and the girl from earlier walks into the room. "Oh there you are! Come in and take a seat.", exclaims, thrilled to have another student. "I guess introductions are in order. Class, this is Mizore Shirayuki. Certain circumstances kept her from attending school, but now she's here. Now please make her feel welcome.", explains as Mizore walks over to the empty seat in front of Tsukune and sits in it. Tsukune begins to freak out , but he refocuses himself when Moka pats him on the back and smiles to him.

After class Tsukune, Reiji and the girls meet in the hallway to talk about what they're each going to bring to the party. "Kurumu and I will handle the drinks and snacks and Yukari can get the games, right Yukari?", Moka explains as she looks over to Yukari. "Yeah, I can get a few games from some of the other clubs if I ask nicely.", Yukari replies before running off to get the games. "Great, now we better get going so we can get all those nice snacks for Tsukune.", Kurumu happily adds as she closes her eyes and thinks about lovingly feeding Tsukune strawberries and grapes. "Yeah, lets go.", Moka replies as they run off. Tsukune and Reiji are left standing there and Reiji says, "Hey Tsukune, you have a visitor.", causing the boy to flinch in fear. Tsukune quickly turns around to see Mizore watching him from behind a corner before ducking behind it. "Hey, you can come out. You don't have to hide.", Tsukune says to her as he looks around the corner. Mizore smiles and comes out from around the corner before starting to talk to Tsukune. "I read your paper. As usual, your articles were the most entertaining ones.", Mizore says with a kind smile as the lollipop in her mouth shifts from one side of her mouth to the other. "Really? My articles?", he asks nervously, somewhat surprised someone actually enjoys his work. She nods her head yes and hands him a journal. "Even when I wasn't in school, always brought me copies of the school newspaper. Out of all the articles, the only ones I saved were yours, Tsukune. I've even added my own personal notes. Take a look.", she says as he opens the journal. He looks in the journal to see all of his articles with Mizore's notes and begins to freak out as he sees she literally has every article he's written for past two weeks with notes about every subject and use of metaphors. "Let me see.", Reiji says as he leans over Tsukune's shoulder to read the journal. "This is actually kind of cute. You have a little fan girl, Tsukune.", Reiji chuckles as he reads through her notes. Mizore grabs onto Tsukune's arm and says, "How about we go have some fun?" Tsukune nervously says, "Sure, we'd like that, right Reiji?" "Sure thing.", Reiji replies, knowing Tsukune doesn't want to be left alone. Mizore glares at Reiji, but Reiji doesn't seem too phased and the three leave together.

Mizore takes them out to a lake where they start to skip rocks. "Like this?", Tsukune asks as he throws the rock and gets it to skip three times. "No, more like this.", Reiji explains as he flicks his wrist, making his rock skip ten time. "Wow, that was awesome Reiji.", Tsukune exclaims in his amazement. Reiji rubs the back of his neck and says, "It's all in the wrist, right Mizore?" As he turns to get her thoughts on the subject,they both see she's standing off by herself, skipping rocks. "Well, I'm off to take my smoke break. Try not to do anything stupid.", Reiji says with a sigh before walking off into the forest. "I'll let those two mingle for a while. She seems to be a little less social with me around.", Reiji thinks to himself as he lights himself a cigarette. Suddenly he hears a commotion going on with Mizore and Tsukune and runs back to see what's going on. When he gets there, he sees that the entire lake is frozen over and Tsukune is slowly becoming a popsicle. "Tsukune!", Reiji shouts as he slides across the ice perfectly and stops right in between him and Mizore. "I'll never be able to do that again for the rest of my life.", Reiji mutters to himself, surprised by how well that worked. "So what did I miss Tsukune? Were you giving her the cold shoulder or something?", Reiji jokingly asks, causing Tsukune to panic. "Now isn't the time Reiji!", Tsukune shouts as the ice slowly continues to surround him. "Stay out of this. Tsukune and I are meant for each other.", Mizore says as she slowly walks towards them. Reiji backhands the ice surrounding Tsukune and it shatters. Suddenly, they hear Moka and Kurumu from above, shouting, "Tsukune!" "How? My puppet killed you.", Mizore says with glare at Moka and Kurumu. "Sorry, but I saved her last minute. I made a cake just for Tsukune, but now it's ruined thanks to you!", Kurumu explains as she and Moka land next to Reiji and Tsukune. "I'll just have to kill you all myself!", Mizore shouts as makes her ice claws. As she goes to unleash another powerful ice attack, Tsukune steps in between her and his friends. "What are you doing? Why are you stopping me?", Mizore asks with a confused look on her face. "Stop this! This needs to stop before it goes any further!", Tsukune shouts, causing the girl to take a step back. "But Tsukune, we were meant for each other. We share the same loneliness.", Mizore says with a saddened look on her face as she holds her hand out to him and taking a few more steps towards him. "No, you're wrong, because I'm not lonely at all!", Tsukune shouts. When she hears this, Mizore stops walking and says, "But Tsukune. You...", but before she can finish Tsukune shouts, "Leave us be!" Mizore takes a few steps back, tears now forming in her eyes as she says, "So, you're rejecting me? You don't care about my feelings? Tsukune why!?" She suddenly makes a snowstorm and as it disperses, she disappears. Reiji stands there looking at the ice and whispers to himself, "I know your pain. I know loneliness." "Mizore's gone.", Tsukune says as he looks around for any sign of the girl. "I'm going after her.", Reiji quickly says as he starts walking off. "What? She just tried to kill us and you want to go after her?", Kurumu shouts, confused by Reiji's sudden kindness. "Reiji, what are you...", Tsukune tries to ask before Reiji says, "I'm going after her and that's that. Now you three better watch your step if you know what's good for you." As Reiji walks off into the forest, Moka asks, "What could that mean?", as she looks to the others. "Who cares? Are you alright, Tsukune? She didn't do anything strange to you, did she? If she did, I'll-", Kurumu begins to say before the girl takes a step towards Tsukune and they hear a loud crack noise. "Shit, the ice!", Kurumu shouts as the ice under them breaks and they plunge into the ice cold water.

Moments later, Reiji is wandering around the forest looking for a hint to where Mizore might be, but he suddenly feels a chill in the air. "She's close by.", Reiji says to himself as he jumps up into a nearby tree to get a better look around. He sees her sitting on the ground crying to herself as the gym teacher, Mr. Kotsubo, slowly walks up behind her with a gross smile on his face. "Hey, you're that Mizore girl, right?", Kotsubo sternly asks the girl as he looks down at her with a slight glare. As she turns to see him, Reiji appears in in front of her and says, "Are you okay, Mizore? Do you want to talk?" She turns to see Reiji standing in front of her and asks, "Why are you here? Just leave me alone." To her surprise, Reiji sits down in front of her and says, "Back there you said that you were lonely and you seem to be looking for somebody that shares your pain. Am I right?" Reiji tries to make eye contact with her, but she keeps looking down at the ground when he tries. "Mr. Oni, please leave. Mizore and I need to have a talk.", Kotsubo sternly orders, but Reiji doesn't seem to care. "Sorry, no can do. I'm going to make sure that she's okay.", Reiji bluntly replies as he continues to focus on trying to cheer Mizore up. Kotsubo just laughs and says, "Well I guess I'll just have to kill you then.", before transforming into his kraken form and leaping towards them. Reiji quickly transforms into his S class form and grabs him by the throat. "What the hell are you?!", exclaims as Reiji pins him against a tree. "I'm this girl's friend. Now prepare to die.", Reiji growls as he prepares to rip out the man's heart. He stops and looks over to Mizore, who is still crying, and thinks about what he's doing. "I'll let you live for now, but I'm going to give you something first.", Reiji growls before he punches him in the chest hard enough to break all of his ribs. coughs up a bit of blood and Reiji tosses him back towards the school before walking back over to Mizore. "Do you understand now?", Reiji asks as he transforms back into his human form. Mizore looks over at Reiji, who's sitting in front of her again. "People feared me because of my abilities and what I've done, but not once have they ever given me a chance. They just wrote me off as a freak without a leash that they had to avoid like the plague.", Reiji explains as he looks at his left hand. "I've felt your pain and I know your loneliness. I can help you Mizore.", Reiji tells her as he wipes away the tears running down her face. She sniffles and asks, "How?" Reiji gets up and says, "First, let's go for a walk. I know a few nice places around here that can help you forget about life's problems." Reiji holds his hand out to help her up and she says, "Okay, but don't try anything or I'll freeze you solid." She takes his hand and he pulls her to her feet before walking off through the forest.

Reiji and Mizore find themselves at a cliff with a view over the ocean. "This is my favorite spot. It's always so calm and peaceful. Do you feel a little better now Mizore?", Reiji asks as he looks out towards the ocean. "Why are you trying to help me? I tried to freeze Tsukune and kill Moka. Shouldn't you be mad at me or something?", Mizore asks nervously as she rubs her arm. Reiji laughs and says, "It's simple Mizore. You and I share the same pain, but we're polar opposites. A snow woman and a demon. One from the frozen tundra and the other from the flaming pits of the Underworld. It's like we're two halves of the same coin.", Reiji explains as looks over to her. Mizore just looks off into the distance and Reiji asks, "Mizore, can I ask you a serious question? If you don't want to that's fine." Mizore looks over to him confused and asks, "What is it?" Reiji looks at his hands and asks, "Are you afraid of me? When I transformed and grabbed Mr. Kotsubo, you looked at me like I was the Boogeyman or something." Mizore hesitates to say anything at first, to which Reiji chuckles. "It's okay if you say yes. I tend to scare people off with my power. That and my general attitude.", Reiji adds as he continues to look at his hands. Mizore smiles and says, "No, you saved me. You're a good guy Reiji, even if you don't know it." Reiji smiles and thinks to himself, "A good guy? If only I could be the good guy." He looks down at his hands again and sees them covered in blood and suddenly his head begins to throb uncontrollably. He puts his hand to his head and thinks to himself, "Damn nightmares can't even leave me alone when I'm awake!" Mizore notices he isn't okay and says, "Is something wrong Reiji?" Reiji laughs and says, "Don't worry, It's nothing.", but he hears the demonic voice again, saying, "You can't keep me caged forever. I'll get out eventually." "You know I'll protect you just like the others, right?", asks Reiji as he looks over to her. She looks at him confused. "Tsukune and the others are my friends and I won't let anything happen to them, not as long as I'm still breathing. As far as I'm concerned, we're friends now and hopefully you can be friends with the others too.", Reiji says with a genuine smile, causing the girl to blush. She smiles back at him, but before she can say anything, Tsukune shuts at them as he runs towards them.

"Hey, Mizore, Reiji!", Tsukune shouts as he runs towards them. "Tsukune?", they both ask as he walks up to them, nearly out of breath from his long run. "Listen, Mr. Kotsubo is okay. He's going to be just fine.", Tsukune shouts as he gets closer. "You two have to come back with me and apologize. You guys got carried away and did it by accident, right? If you show them that you're sorry then I'm certain that you two won't get expelled.", Tsukune says, which causes Mizore to start to tear up. "Mizore, it's going to be okay.", Reiji tells her as he tries to get close enough to comfort her. "Tsukune, I thought you'd understand me, but I was wrong. Nobody will understand me. Nobody, nobody will, no one!", Mizore exclaims at the top of her lungs before creating a small vortex of snow and ice, surrounding herself in a snowstorm. Reiji is sent back by the vortex and almost knocks over Tsukune. Moka and the others suddenly shout out to them from the nearby forest. "Tsukune! There's been a terrible mistake! They didn't do anything wrong.", Moka shouts as she rushes towards the two boys. "Genei showed us his pictures that showed Mr. Kotsubo trying to kill Reiji to get to Mizore!", Yukari shouts as she shows him the pictures. "I had no idea. Man I really wish I hadn't said all those things.", Tsukune says with a saddened look, full of guilt. "Well you can't take it back now.", Reiji shoots back in a more pissed of mood than usual. "I'm sorry guys! I should have given you the benefit of the doubt. Can you guys forgive me?", Tsukune asks with a worried look, but Reiji just glares at him as Mizore continues to hide in her ice storm. "Stay away! Stay away from me!", Mizore shouts as the vortex gets stronger and larger. "I think you've done enough Tsukune! I'll handle this!", Reiji shouts back at the boy as he pushes his way through the vortex. Suddenly, a wave crashes into the cliff side and Mizore's ice powers freeze the water instantly, using the ice to make ice clones of her. As the ice clones begin to emerge from the ice, they say, "So alone. Always alone. No one in this world will ever understand who I really am. I'm lonely." "That isn't true Mizore! I understand you! Just let me in!", Reiji exclaims as he makes his way through the vortex. "Go away! You can all freeze to death for all I care!", Mizore yells as she freezes the area around her solid, but Reiji continues pushing through. As Reiji finally makes it to Mizore, he envelopes the girl in a hug, holding her close. He then whispers into her ear, "Sometimes a hug is all somebody need to make the pain go away." Mizore suddenly stops freezing everything and just stands there as he hugs her. Without any warning, the ground under the two begins to give away and they fall. She screams as she begins to fall, but Reiji grabs her with his left hand and the ledge with his right. Reiji looks down at her and says, "Hey, just some words of advice. Don't look down." She instantly looks down to see the spiky rocks below and begins to panic. "Reiji!?", she shouts as she panics some more. "I already told you that I won't let anything bad happen to you so stop panicking. ", Reiji says as he tries to get them both up, but fails. "I can't use any of my monster energy without putting Mizore at risk.", Reiji thinks to himself as he grits his teeth in frustration. Tsukune runs to the ledge and tries to pull them up, but doesn't have the upper body strength to do so. As the boy fails to pull Reiji and Mizore up, Mizore's puppets surround him and say, "Let them die! If you care for them, you'll let them go in peace." "No, they're my friends and I'll do everything in my power to save them.", Tsukune shouts as he continues to try his hardest to pull Reiji and Mizore up. "Then die with them!", the ice clones shout in unison as they aim to attack Tsukune. "Tsukune, I'm coming!", Moka exclaims as she slides in between the ice clones to him. As he reaches out for her hand, she slides slightly past him and he pulls off her rosary, releasing Inner Moka. "What's happening up there?", Mizore asks as Moka transforms. Her immense monster energy instantly shatters the ice clones and she walks over to Tsukune, causing the weak boy to flinch. "You called me out for this?", she asks with a growl as she grabs Tsukune and pulls all three of them up all at once. "Thanks Moka.", Tsukune replies, grateful for her saving him again. Mizore and Reiji both stand up and Mizore says, "If you're expecting a thank you then you might as well forget it." Moka isn't pleased with this response and goes to kick her.

Reiji watches in slow motion as Moka puts her leg up to kick Mizore and thinks to himself, "No, I can't let her..." And suddenly Reiji moves in between the two girls and Moka kicks Reiji's right arm. His arm is ripped from his body and lands right in front of Yukari and Kurumu, who scream when they see it. Blood begins to drip from his shoulder and he just laughs uncontrollably. "What did you do Moka?!", Yukari and Kurumu shout, panicking as they look to Reiji's bleeding wound. Moka looks shocked that Reiji did such a thing. "Reiji, are you...", Mizore tries to ask but Reiji says, "I'll be fine. Just don't forget what I told you, okay?" As he places his left hand over his face, the pentagram begins to rotate and glow as he says, "S class monster recognized. Critical damage sustained. First and second seals released until the target has been rendered silenced." A giant pillar of black monster energy forms around him pushing everyone back. "What is this power? This isn't an ordinary S class monster, he's a...", Moka says as she tries to hold her ground. As the all black figure with glowing red eyes and a shadow like aura appears through the slowly disappearing pillar, Moka says, "An SS class monster."


	9. Chapter 9: Consumed By Darkness

"Reiji, i-is that you?", Tsukune asks nervously as he backs away from the terrifying figure. "Of course, who else could it be?", Reiji replies sarcastically, showing off his now sharp teeth. "Looks like we finally get to fight, Moka.", Reiji says to the girl as his monster energy swirls around him. "Even with all of that power, you only have one arm. That gives me the clear advantage.", Moka proclaims confidently as she prepares for battle. Reiji laughs and says, "You think so? Well looks like I'm going to have to point out a flaw in that logic." Yukari and Kurumu watch as Reiji's severed arm turns to dust and glides along the swirling wind over to Reiji's monster energy. "Certain Demons have the ability to regenerate at an incredible rate.", Reiji explains as he regenerates his entire arm with his monster energy. "What the hell?!", Moka exclaims as she watches him regenerate his arm. "As long as I still can still breath and I have enough monster energy, I won't die.", Reiji says as he begins to move his new arm around, getting a feel for the new limb. "Now how do you feel about your odds, Moka?", Reiji asks with a grin on his face. "I don't care if you have all this power. I'll still beat you.", Moka replies coldly as she charges in to kick him again. When she gets close enough, Reiji disappears without a trace. "Where did he?", Moka asks as she looks around for her target. "Underneath you!", Tsukune shouts as he notices the shadow under slowly growing bigger. Suddenly a large dog leaps out from the shadow and tries to eat her, but she manages to dodge out of the way at the last minute. Reiji emerges from the shadow with the large dog and says, "Damn, you moved. I was hoping to finish this quickly, but if you want to die slowly, then I'll be happy to oblige!". The dog suddenly grows to the size of a giant and roars in Moka's face. "What the hell is that thing?", Kurumu asks in complete disbelief as the rest of the group takes a few steps back to distance themselves from the hound. "I think it's his monster energy. Like how Mizore made her ice clones, but on a much greater scale with a single puppet.", Yukari explains as the dog follows Reiji's orders. Moka kicks the dog in the face, but it isn't phased and bites her leg, dragging her along the ground as it runs along. "Let go of me, you mutt!", Moka shouts as she kicks out the dog's teeth to free herself. She rolls along the ground and Tsukune says, "Moka's uniform is all torn up. If this keeps up she might." "Reiji, this needs to stop!", Tsukune shouts to the boy, but he doesn't seem to care. Instead, Reiji simply laughs and continues his attack. "At least fight her one on one!", Kurumu shouts, trying to at least even the odds for Moka. Reiji glares at her and says, "Fine, I guess this is a bit unfair." Reiji snaps his fingers and the dog returns to his cloak of monster energy.

"Then how about we make this into a game? I'll fight with one finger and you can use all of your body.", Reiji suggests as he holds out his right index finger. Moka runs in to kick him, but he manages to block the attack with only his finger. "What the hell?", Moka exclaims in confusion as she tries to figure out how that works. Then Reiji takes advantage of her confusion and pushes her back with his finger before flicking her in the forehead, launching her into a nearby tree. "How did he-", Yukari begins to asks as Moka falls to her knees after hitting the tree. "I'm not done yet.", Moka exclaims with her usual stubbornly nature showing. Reiji laughs and says, "Now that's the spirit! Come at me then, and meet your end!" Moka charges at him again and tries to kick him, but he flicks her foot, sending her spinning in circles. He then flicks the back of her head, launching her face first into the ground. "Damn, that looked like it hurt. You want to die yet?", Reiji says sadistically as he looks down at her with an evil grin on his face. "Reiji, that's enough!", Tsukune shouts as he steps in between them. "Get out of the way, Tsukune.", Moka growls as she slowly gets back to her feet. "Moka?", Tsukune asks her as he looks to her with a concerned gaze. "We need to settle this. You shouldn't interfere.", Moka growls as she pushes him aside to get to her opponent. "You're a real brat, you know that?", Reiji growls, irritated that she won't just give up. Moka rushes in once more, leaping at him with a dive kick, but Reiji side steps out of the way causing her to miss. "If this is the best that you can do, then I might as well kill you here and now!", Reiji gloats as he lifts his finger into the air. Suddenly a small ball of energy appears at the tip of his finger. "That can't be good.", Moka mutters to herself as she glares at him. "It isn't. See?", Reiji replies as he points it towards the ocean and launches it with a flick. There is a small flash then a giant explosion almost the size of the school. Everyone just looks at the explosion with their mouths hanging open while Reiji just grins. "Maybe using that at close range isn't a good idea.", Reiji thinks out loud as he takes a moment to think about it a little more. "You think? That could blow up the entire school!", Yukari exclaims, pointing to the giant explosion in the distance. "Fine. Damn, I never get to use that one.", Reiji growls to his dismay, seeing that he won't get to use the attack again. "Forget about me?", Moka asks as she goes to kick Reiji in the side of the head. Reiji surprisingly grabs her leg with his right hand and says, "No, I was just waiting for you to make a move so I could do this.", before slamming her face first into the ground, making a crater. "Did you die or are you still kicking?", Reiji asks as he pulls her head up out of the crater. "Is that all you got?", Moka taunts as she glares at him. "You're definitely a vampire. Stubborn little shit.", Reiji growls back at her as he drops her on the ground.

"Now how long will it take you to get up on your own?", Reiji asks as she slowly rises to her feet. She almost gets to her feet, but falls to her knees in pain. "What's wrong? Not regenerating fast enough?", Reiji asks mockingly. "I'm not...done yet. You won't kill me.", Moka growls as she tries to force herself to her feet. As she falls to her knees again, Tsukune steps in between them. "Didn't I tell you to stay out of this?", Moka shouts at the boy, but Tsukune refuses to move this time. "I can't just stand by as my friends kill each other!.", Tsukune shouts as he holds his arms up, blocking Reiji's path to the girl. "Yeah, we won't let you guys fight anymore.", Kurumu says as she stands with Tsukune, holding her arms out like Tsukune is. "Damn straight.", Yukari adds as she joins them, building a wall between the two powerful monsters. Reiji laughs maniacally and says, "You three think you can stop me?" They all look nervously at each other and nod. They all stand there confidently as they block Reiji's path and Reiji sighs. "If you won't move then I'll just to go through you.", Reiji threatens as he glares at them. Kurumu and Yukari begin to shake with fear, but Tsukune stands his ground. "You stand fearless at Death's door?", Reiji asks with a slightly surprised glance to Tsukune. "I know you won't hurt me Reiji, because we're friends, remember?", Tsukune replies, but Reiji isn't buying it. Instead, he just laughs and says, "I don't control who I hurt in this form. I follow strict orders to eliminate my target by any means necessary, including casualties." Reiji lifts his fist to punch Tsukune and as he goes to hit Tsukune his fist stops only an inch from the boy's face when Reiji feels something cold hugging him. Reiji lets out a slight chuckle before saying, "So you figured it out, Mizore." Tsukune looks to see that Mizore is hugging Reiji from behind. "Mizore?", Tsukune, Yukari and Kurumu ask confused. "You can stop now Reiji. She isn't a threat anymore, so you don't have to keep fighting!", Mizore shouts as she squeezes Reiji tighter. The pentagram reappears on his hand and begins to spin. "Looks like the override worked.", Reiji mutters to himself as he transforms back to his normal form. "Now, are we good or do we need a round two of this shit?", Reiji asks the beaten Moka as he holds his hand out to her. "We're good for now, but what exactly are you Reiji?", Moka replies as she takes it and he pulls her to her feet. Reiji just laughs before saying, "Oh, just a demon with an iffy past is all. Maybe I'll tell you guys about it someday." To his surprise, Mizore continues to hug the boy from behind. "Hey Mizore, you can stop hugging me now. I'm back to normal now.", Reiji says as he looks back at her.

Later in Ms. Nekanome's room, Reiji is sitting with Moka and the others as they try to get over their colds. "Damn, how can you guys catch a cold from that?", Reiji asks mockingly as the four shiver and shake. "Well some of us aren't demons with super body heat!", Kurumu shouts back before letting out a loud sneeze. "Well the good news is that Mr. Kotsubo was reported to the Headmaster and fired from his position here at Yokai Academy.", Ms. Nekanome explains as she reads the newspaper her students helped create . "He's lucky I didn't kill him. That fucking creep was probably going to try and rape her or something. Fucking god damn octopus monster.", Reiji mutters to himself angrily as he crosses his arms. Suddenly a chill fills the room and Tsukune and Moka both sneeze. "Did it just get colder in here?", Tsukune asks as he looks to the closed windows then the open door. There, he sees Mizore watching them from the doorway. "What the hell are you doing here!?", Tsukune exclaims in a panic as he thinks about getting frozen again. "Wait, your hair.", Moka says as Mizore walks into the room. "I shortened it. Does it suit me?", Mizore asks, blushing as she shows off her new, shorter hair cut. "Oh I think it looks super duper good on you!", says with excitement as she observes the girls cute hair cut. "Yeah it looks great on you Mizore.", Reiji adds, causing the girl to smile. "It might seem cheesy to say, but I feel like I've been reborn. So I thought maybe I'd start with a brand new hair do.", Mizore says, still blushing from all the complements. "Yeah, it makes you look really photogenic. Let's get a picture of you right now.", Genei adds as he snaps a photo of Mizore. "That's right, nice going on those photos Genei! We wouldn't have been able to prove their innocence without them.", Tsukune adds as he remembers the wolf-boy's contribution. Genei laughs and says, "You know me. I've always got my eyes peeled and my ear to the ground. I'm constantly patrolling the campus in search of the perfect shot.", before more photos fall out of his jacket pocket. Kurumu picks them up as she asks, "What are these? Are these photos for the newspaper or something?", and as she and Yukari look at them they get mad and start to beat him up. Moka grabs a few of them off of the ground before seeing that they are pictures of girls changing in the locker room. "Oh my goodness. Come on you guys.", Nekanome says to the enraged girls, trying to stop the beating. Reiji, Tsukune, Moka and Mizore watch as Genei takes his beating and the teacher fails to stop the two girls' onslaught. "In the end, it all worked out pretty well, didn't it?", Moka says happily as she looks over to Reiji. "Yeah, except for the part where I almost killed you. That could've ended badly.", Reiji replies reluctantly as he rubs the back of his neck. "Don't worry about it. The other me can get a bit carried away some times.", Moka says as he waves it off as nothing. Moka looks over to Tsukune and says, "After all that, I'm a bit thirsty." Tsukune looks at her concerned and says, "Wait, no please." "I'm sorry, I can't help myself.", Moka says seductively before biting down into the boy's neck and sucking his blood. As Moka sucks out Tsukune's blood, Mizore stares Reiji and Tsukune down from behind the door.


	10. Chapter 10: Hitting The Books

It's another school day in Ms. Ririko's math class and she's going on another one of her math lectures about basic algebra. Reiji ignores her lecture and looks over at Tsukune, who seems to be zoned out. Ms. Ririko notices that Tsukune isn't paying attention to her lecture and says, "Mr. Aono, please answer this problem." Tsukune looks up at the problem on the board with a blank stare and says, "I.. I don't know how." His friends give him worried glances as the rest of the class laughs at him. Ms. Rirko then walks up to him with her ruler in hand and slams the top of his desk with it before growling, "Mr. Aono, finals are coming up and if you don't get your grades up there will be serious consequences." Tsukune then realizes that he's completely unprepared for the exams and says, "Midterms!? Not midterms! What am I going to do? I'm not nearly ready for finals!" Moka looks at Tsukune with a worried look on her face as the bell rings for classes to end and he rushes out of class to avoid any further embarrassment.

Moka heads to the roof and finds Tsukune all alone. "Moka, could you please tutor me in math?", Tsukune begs as she walks over to him. She smiles and replies with, "Of course, Tsukune. Friends help each other out all the time with this kind of stuff." Tsukune seems relieved and says, "Thank you so much, Moka! I don't know what I'd do without your help." She blushes and says, "We'll study in my room tonight. I can help you with your math and any other subjects you might be having trouble grasping." "You did not just say that.", Reiji, who standing on top of the stairway exit, says with a slightly amused look on his face. "Reiji?!", Tsukune and Moka gasp, surprised as they look up at him. "You really should choose your words more carefully, Moka. Also, you aren't going to get any tutoring done if you take him to your room, so you might as well use one of the empty class rooms.", Reiji says as he jumps down from his perch to them. Suddenly the door to the stairway swings open and Kurumu jumps out saying, "Hold it right there. Sine, Cosine, Tangent. I learned all of those things in math class. So you should study with me Tsukune!" As she tries desperately to convince Tsukune to pick her, Kurumu's suddenly hit in the head with a golden wash tub and Yukari walks out from the stairway with an evil grin as she says, "No you should study with me Tsukune. I'm much smarter than Kurumu and I can tutor you much better than she ever could and you need help in math, so what do you say?" The door slowly begins to move and they see that Mizore was behind the door when it swung open as her face is slightly red from where it hit her. Kurumu and Yukari look at her stunned as she says, "Speaking of help. I'm in the same boat since I missed a lot of school. Can I study with you guys?" Kurumu and Yukari quickly nod in response, afraid of what the stalker might do if they say no to her. "Yeah, we can all work together to help Tsukune get better at math.", Moka confidently suggests as she looks to the rest of the group for approval. Reiji rubs the back of his neck and says, "I could try, but I mostly just guess and hope for the best. Ms. Nekanome will probably let us use the newspaper club room if we ask." Tsukune sighs and accepts his fate, saying, "I guess if you all want to, I can't refuse this much help."

Later that day, the group meets in the newspaper club room and Yukari starts teaching math concepts that she has written on the chalk board. As she teaches the rest of the group sees Mizore writing in her notebook rapidly and when they all look to see what she is writing they all see that she is writing Tsukune's name over and over again with a few Reijis thrown in. Everyone except for Reiji is frightened that she's doing this, but Reiji just looks at it then looks back at his notebook. "Do you get it now, Tsukune?" Moka asks as she finishes showing him another example problem. "Yeah, thanks to you I do. You're a top quality tutor." "Well it's great that you understand it, but I still don't! Will you please be my private tutor Tsukune?", Kurumu says as she tries to cuddle Tsukune, but instead smothers the boy in her breasts. "So all of these derivatives and integrals, how exactly are they any different from addition and subtraction?", Mizore asks Yukari, but the witch just stands there without an answer. Reiji sighs before saying, "Derivatives and integrals are just like big machines while things like addition and subtraction are the smaller pieces that make up those machines. It's just taking what you know about the subject and then bending it in order to give it a whole new purpose, creating a new bigger piece to be used in an even bigger machine." Everyone just seems more confused by this and Reiji just continues to write in his notebook. As Moka passes Tsukune her notes, he looks at them and says, "Wow Moka, you're notes are amazing. They're so well written and easy to follow." She quickly blushes at his complement and says, "I can write a copy for you by hand if you'd like." "You don't have to do that. A photo copy will do just fine. Wait, this school probably doesn't have a copier, does it?", Tsukune replies as he remembers how old fashioned this school is. Moka smiles at him and says, "It's nothing really. Anything for you." They begin to look into each other's eyes, but before they can say anything, Reiji says, "If you guys start saying each other's names again, I'm going to barf all over you two. Take that lovey dovey junk somewhere else."

Later in the afternoon as the school is getting ready to close, Tsukune, Moka, and Reiji are at their lockers putting their books away for the day. "You know, it's been a really long time since I studied for a test this hard.", Tsukune notes as he stretches his arms. "It was worth it if you learned something though.", Moka adds as she smiles over to him. Reiji looks over Tsukune's shoulder and says, "Calculus on your six Tsukune." Tsukune and Moka turn to see Ms. Ririko standing behind them. "Mr. Aono and his friends, what are you all doing here so late? A club?", she asks with a curious, yet stern look on her face. Tsukune is a bit nervous and says, "No, we were just finishing up a study session.", to which her already irritated look gets even worse. The teacher glares at the group and says, "A study session? Well that's not good, I'm sorry to hear that." Moka and Tsukune are both confused, but Reiji doesn't seem to care. She goes on to say, "When students get together they spend more time goofing off than actually studying the material." "But we didn't", Tsukune says, trying to defend Moka and himself, but Ms. Ririko isn't having any of it. "We really studied. Tsukune was beginning to understand the material.", Moka adds, but the teacher just shakes her head no in disapproval. "I doubt it. You're just a student Ms. Akashia, you're not a teacher. Leave teaching to those who are qualified.", Ms. Ririko replies, scolding the girl for her arrogance. Reiji sighs and says, "Do you know any normal teacher who can teach math then? Your way of covering material seems to not be working with Tsukune." Ms. Ririko glares at Reiji and says, "Then I'll make it work.", as she grabs Tsukune's head and shoves him face first into her chest. "Tomorrow after class Mr. Aono, you will meet me in the tutoring room." Moka and Reiji are both shocked and confused by what she is doing to Tsukune. She grabs Tsukune's face, forcing the boy to look up at her from her bosom, and looks him in the eyes as she says, "You'll never forget the lessons I'll teach you. I can't wait."

The next day after class, Tsukune and the gang are hanging out in the newspaper club room. "Well I guess I better get going.", Tsukune says hesitantly as he goes to get up from his seat. "You're going to go get tutored by Ms. Ririko, right? I dug around a little and a few of her older students told me that she goes a bit overboard with her teaching.", Kurumu says as she looks over at him. Tsukune sighs and asks, "Anything else?" Kurumu nods before grabbing her boobs and saying, "Well there are two more problems. They make me so angry. The boys won't stop staring at her tits!" There is a moment of silence in the room and Moka looks at her own chest and says, "Really?" Yukari slides over to Kurumu and asks, "What? Are you feeling a bit outclassed Kurumu? Who's acting like such a child now?" Kurumu grins at Yukari and says, "Really? Because the only child in here is you. The proof is your flat as a board chest.", as she pats Yukari's less than impressive chest. As they begin to bicker back and forth, Reiji asks Tsukune, "Why didn't you just tell her that you already have a good enough understanding of the material? That could've gotten her off your back." Tsukune sighs and says, "I tried after class today, but she could tell I was lying." "Well at least they're better than having to take makeup classes.", Moka adds optimistically. Yukari continues to grope Kurumu as she says, "Yeah Tsukune, if you get a fifty or lower on the exam, then you flunk the subject and have to take intense makeup classes before they'll let you out for summer break. "Wait!", Tsukune shouts suddenly as if he just had an idea. "What is it?", Reiji asks with a confused looks on his face. "I almost forgot about summer break!", Tsukune shouts with excitement. Tsukune looks over to Moka and says, "I'm going to do it Moka. I'm going to work hard and pass math. Then we can go on summer break together, right?" Moka smiles and goes to say something, but before she can, Kurumu grabs Tsukune and says, "No, go to the beach with me so we can play with some beach balls." Yukari wraps her arms around his waist and says, "No way, he's going to have a sweet summer romance with me." Then Mizore holds out a cup of shaved ice with what looks to be cover with some kind of flavoring and says, "No, have a snow cone with me as we watch the sun rise." Reiji sighs and says, "Why don't we all do something together then? That way everyone gets to hangout with Tsukune over summer break." "Sure, I guess we can make that work some how. Maybe we can all go camping or something.", Tsukune suggests as he goes to leave the room. As Tsukune finally leaves the room, Reiji looks over to Mizore and asks, "Now where exactly did you get the flavoring for that shaved ice?" She points over to a shelf that has all kinds liquids on it. "Are you sure that's flavoring?", Reiji asks as he checks out the shelf. She hands him the bottle she used and he checks it to see that it is in fact strawberry flavoring. "Why is this even in here?", he asks as he places it in an empty spot on the shelf.

The next day, in between classes, Reiji and Moka are waiting in the hallway for Tsukune. They eventually run into him and Moka begins to talk to Tsukune, but Reiji ignores her and looks at Tsukune. He seems different, a bit more mindless than usual. "Hey Tsukune, are you alright?", Reiji asks him, but he doesn't reply. Moka suddenly realizes that Tsukune is in some kind of trance. "What are you two doing?", Ms. Ririko asks the two accusingly as she walks up to the group from behind. She takes Moka's notebook off of her and looks through it as she says, "I see, you're trying to undermine me, aren't you!? And trying to seduce Mr. Aono with this dribble, how dare you!?" Reiji laughs and asks, "So what do you call yesterday when you shoved his face into your breasts? Teacher student bonding?" "I was just helping him study.", Moka tries to explain before she chucks her notebook at her. Reiji catches the notebook a centimeter from Moka's face and says, "Well isn't that just rude. If this keeps up, I might just get violent." Ms. Ririko then walks over to Tsukune and says, "Obviously you two are a distraction to Mr. Aono. Come on Tsukune, lets go study." As Ririko drags Tsukune off to who knows where, Reiji says, "I don't think he's okay with this." Moka and Reiji go to the club room and she starts to write notes Tsukune as Reiji smokes a cigarette by the open window.

As classes end for the day, Moka and Reiji are at their lockers again when they hear Tsukune screaming. "I knew that bitch would be a problem.", Reiji growls as he runs up the nearby stairs, heading for the tutoring room. Moka follows after him, but Reiji is too fast for her to catch up to at this point. Reiji makes it to the tutoring room, but finds that the door is locked. "This won't stop me!", Reiji shouts as he kicks the door into pieces, scaring Ms. Ririko as chunks of the door go flying by her as she's in her monster form, a Lamia. When he walks into the room, he sees Ririko is shocking Tsukune with her plant like tail, sending knowledge straight into his brain with every shock. "Let him go or I'll kick your teeth in.", Reiji threatens as he walks into the room. She looks over to him as she drops Tsukune's motionless body and says, "We're in the middle of a study session. Leave!" Reiji laughs and says, "I guess I'm going to have to kick your teeth in." She turns to him and points at him with her tail and say, "I won't let you get in the way of my educating!" She propels her tail towards him, but he dodges, causing her tail to hit the wall in the hallway right in front of Moka. Moka looks into the room to see Ms. Ririko in her monster form. "Ms. Ririko, what are you doing to Tsukune?", she asks. "Isn't it obvious Moka? Her tutoring is some sick fetish she has with shocking the shit out of her students until they do whatever she wants. You're quite the sick freak, aren't you?", Reiji says as he tries to hit Ms. Ririko. Ms. Ririko dodges his attacks and says, "I'm a teacher, you can't talk to me like that!" "What? Can't accept what you are, Ririko? A sick freak who gets off on hurting her own students!", Reiji continues as they start to destroy the room. "What's going on here?", Mizore asks as she pops her head out of an open air duct. "What are you doing here?", Ms. Ririko asks as she continues to avoid Reiji's attacks. "I'm here to cool you off.", says Mizore as she takes the lollipop out of her mouth and blows cold air into the room freezing her tail to the floor. "No, I can't move!", she exclaims as Reiji punches her straight in the face, knocking her into a table covered in lamps. She grabs some of the lamps and starts to throw them at Reiji and Mizore. This causes the room to quickly be engulfed in flames. "You idiot. You think some fire will do anything to me?", Reiji gloats as he lights a cigarette with a nearby fire. "How could you possibly be comfortable in this?", Ms. Ririko asks furiously. Reiji laughs and says, "Because I'm a demon.", before the pentagram on his left hand suddenly lights up and he transforms into his S class form. Moka runs over to Tsukune and starts to pull him out of the burning room as Reiji beats Ms. Ririko senseless. Moka drops her bag, causing all of her notes to go onto the floor and Tsukune sees them. Tsukune snaps out of his trance and says, "Moka?" She looks at him and exclaims, "Tsukune!" They go to hug, but Tsukune slips on one of the many papers on the floor and pulls off her rosary. Inner Moka pushes Tsukune towards the door and says, "Reiji, you haven't beaten this poor excuse for a teacher yet?" Reiji laughs and says, "Well, she is a bit slippery. Want to lend a hand, or in your case a leg?" She glares at him and says, "Stop messing around and finish this already. I don't like being brought out for nothing." "Fine, catch.", Reiji quickly replies as he launches Ms. Ririko towards her. Moka kicks her teeth in with a strong kick to the face before round house kicking her into the wall. "Have you learned your place Ririko? Or do we need to leave you naked in front of the whole school?", Reiji asks mockingly as the two powerful monsters approach the overwhelmed teacher. "No, I've learned my place. I appreciate the guidance you've given me today.", she replies before Mizore freezes her solid. "We could've blackmailed her into giving you a perfect score on the final.", Reiji suggests as he turns back into his normal form. "No, I want to earn this.", Tsukune says with a stern glare. Reiji sighs and says, "I guess it's your choice then. We'll just keep this dirt for another time then."

The next day is the finals and Tsukune seems to be having problems with the math final. But, later that day they get their test back and the group share their scores. Tsukune gets an eighty nine, Mizore gets a fifty six, Kurumu gets a forty nine, Moka gets a ninety five, and Reiji gets a ninety four.


	11. Chapter 11: Beach Time Fun

Late in the morning, Reiji is walking with Kurumu, Mizore, and Yukari to the bus stop. "So we're going to the human world for our club trip. That should be exciting.", says Reiji as he puts his hands on the back of his neck. "Yeah, we're probably going to go to a beach and enjoy the nice weather.", Yukari exclaims in her excitement. "I can't wait to show Tsukune my new bathing suit.", Kurumu says with a smile as she holds her face, thinking about Tsukune's reaction to the sight of her mostly naked body. Mizore sighs and ask, "Is it a bathing suit or just a strap?" Kurumu just glares at her and says, "Even if it were a strap, Tsukune would still prefer me over you, snow cone." Mizore glares back at her and says, "No, he'd prefer me since I have more self esteem." As they glare at each other, Reiji glares at both of them causing them to stop their bickering. He sighs and says, "Well, we shouldn't keep them waiting. I bet Tsukune and Moka are at the bus stop right now." All of the girls are shocked by this idea and rush to the bus stop without hesitation. As Reiji and the girls arrive at the bus stop, they see Tsukune and Moka standing next to each other. "Hey, what do you two think you're doing!?", Yukari shouts as she rushes over to them. Reiji sighs and says, "Well, it looks like I guessed correctly." "What are you trying to pull Moka? Are you trying to steal Tsukune away from me", Kurumu asks accusingly as she walks over to to them and gets in Moka's face. Moka blushes nervously and says, "Not at all. I swear." Before Kurumu can respond, they all hear Ms. Nekanome say, "Hey everybody!", as she hangs out of the bus driving towards them. "Ms. Nekanome?", Tsukune asks with a confused glance to the cat woman. As the bus stops in front of them, Ms. Nekanome walks off of the bus to them and says, "Great, everyone's already here nice and early. We can all leave for the human world once you've all taken your seats." "Why are you here so early Ms. Nekanome?", Mizore asks as she also gives the teacher a confused look. Ms. Nekanome puts her right index finger over her own chin and says, "Well, I just wanted to go to the human world as soon as possible and was hoping that you'd all be early so we could leave as early as possible." Reiji looks around and asks, "Well, where's Ginei then? Shouldn't our Club President be joining us on this kind of thing?" Kurumu laughs at this for a moment before saying, "He flunked a few classes so he has to stay behind and take make up classes." "But you failed a few of your classes too, Kurumu.", Yukari adds, causing the succubus' eyes to widen. Kurumu rushes her onto the bus, literally pushing the little girl up and into the bus as she says, "Don't worry. I already dealt with my make up work." As everyone makes their way onto the bus after them, Mizore says, "I bet you're just skipping them, aren't you Kurumu?", and Kurumu gets a nervous look on her face. "Don't be silly. Now lets get going.", Kurumu says with a panicked look on her face as she sits in a seat in the back on the right side of the bus with Yukari. Mizore sits in the seat in front of them and says, "Fine with me." Tsukune and Moka sit in the same seat just opposite of Kurumu and Yukari. Ms. Nekanome sits at the front of the bus on the right side and Reiji takes the whole back seat for himself. With everyone seated, the bus drives off into the tunnel to the human world. And as the bus drives into the human world's portal, Reiji lays down in the back seat and falls asleep.

When the bus finally reaches the end of the human world portal, it hits a bump in the tunnel's road causing Reiji to wake up. The boy quickly sits up and stretches before saying, "Man, that was a good nap. We must be close to the human world by now." As the bus exits the tunnel everyone sees the human world through the bus windows. "I-I'm home!", Tsukune exclaims happily as he stands up and looks out the window. "Well you sure seem excited.", Mizore says with a confused look, surprised by his reaction. "Yeah, you sound like a human or something.", Kurumu adds and Yukari looks at him with a slightly worried look. Moka looks to them with a panicked look on her face and says, "Tsukune grew up in the human world, so his reaction is completely normal, right Tsukune?" Tsukune suddenly realizes what he just did before quickly sitting back in his seat by the window and saying, "Yeah, that's right." Kurumu smiles and says, "Well that's good to hear.", but Yukari still has a slightly concerned look on her face, but it quickly fades when Tsukune smiles at her. The bus suddenly stops, and when the group looks out the windows they see they've arrived at a beach, to which everyone gets off and grabs the stuff in the luggage compartment of the bus to take down to the shore to setup their campsite. They look all over the beach until Ms. Nekanome says, "Here. This is a perfect spot. Put the stuff here please." The girls and Tsukune place the few bags that they were carrying in the area that she requested and they turn to Reiji to see that he's carrying ten big bags and a cooler, but can't see exactly where to put the stuff. Tsukune leads him to the spot and says, "You can drop it here.", and Reiji literally drops everything there. Everything lands perfectly and Kurumu says, "I'm not sure if that was skill or just luck." Reiji laughs and says, "I like to think it was a little bit of both." The girls go to the nearby girls' restroom to get changed into their bathing suits and the boys go to the boys' bathroom to get changed into their swimming trunks.

When they get back, the group begins to play a game of volleyball. Moka passes the ball to Yukari and Yukari asks, "So you aren't afraid of humans, Tsukune?", as she sends the ball to him. "Not at all.", he replies as he knocks the ball towards Reiji. "I don't know why anyone would be afraid of humans.", Reiji adds as he knocks the ball towards Mizore. "Humans are much more dangerous than you can think, Reiji.", says Mizore as she sends the ball over to Kurumu. "Yeah, they don't exactly like us that much you know.", Kurumu adds as she bounces the ball to Moka. Moka sends the ball over to Reiji and says, "Well, not all humans can be that bad, right?" "Some humans can be good people too. Even monsters have a few rotten eggs.", Reiji says as he knocks the ball towards Tsukune. As Tsukune hits the ball over to Yukari, he says, "How about we change the topic to something else?" "Agreed, but what should we talk about?", Yukari asks as she prepares to hit the ball. "I don't know.", Kurumu adds as she hits the ball to Mizore before Yukari can. Everyone lets out a slight chuckle at the interception, but Yukari doesn't think it's funny and glares at the bustier girl for her behavior. "So, what are we going to do later?", Mizore asks as she sends the ball over to Moka. "I don't know.", Moka replies with an uncertain look on her face as she bounces the ball to Reiji. Reiji laughs and says, "I'm probably going to build a sand sculpture since swimming is out of the picture.", before serving the ball back to Yukari. "We'll probably just swim since we are at the beach and all.", Yukari says as she attempts to hit the ball again. But to her dismay, Kurumu steals the ball again, sending it to Tsukune while saying, "Yeah, that sounds about right." Yukari is furious and shouts, "Kurumu! Stop stealing my balls!" Kurumu laughs and says, "Sorry, you're just so short that I didn't see you there." Yukari glares at her and says, "This means war!" Kurumu laughs again before shooting back with, "Then bring it on, shorty." After the young witch switches sides, Tsukune serves the ball to Mizore, who gently knocks it over to Kurumu. Kurumu quickly jumps up in the air and spikes the ball down at Yukari. Yukari, however, dives for the ball and knocks it to Moka. "Here you go.", Moka says as she sends the ball back to Yukari. Yukari leaps into the air and ferociously spikes the ball at Kurumu, but she backhands the ball away, saving her face, but causing the ball to go full force into Tsukune's face and knock him unconscious. "Oh no, Tsukune!", Moka shouts as they all crowd around him. "I'm sorry Tsukune. Please wake up.", Kurumu begs as she kneels down to his side. "Nope. He's dead. Great job you two.", Reiji says as he checks for Tsukune's pulse. Yukari and Kurumu turn pale and scream, "What!?" Reiji laughs and says, "Wow, you two are too gullible. He isn't dead, only unconscious." "Don't scare me like that, Reiji!", Kurumu shouts, pissed that he did such a thing. "Yeah, that wasn't very nice!", Yukari adds with an irritated glare at the demon boy. Reiji just laughs however before saying, "Neither was hitting someone in the face with a volleyball. You two need to learn some self control." Mizore tries to wake Tsukune up with an ice block to his feet, but it doesn't seem to be working. "Nope, he's out cold.", Mizore notes as she throws the ice block in the cooler. "I'll watch over him. You girls can go and play in the water or something.", Reiji says as he sits next to the unconscious Tsukune. "Well I can't go in the water so...", Moka says as she sits down next to Tsukune. "Tsukune might be hot when he wakes up so I'll be here to cool him off.", Mizore says as she sits next to Tsukune too. "Oh hell no. I'm not letting you all make me look bad. I'll be here to cheer Tsukune up when he wakes up.", Kurumu says as she sits down with them. "Me too!", Yukari shouts as she plops down next to them. Reiji sighs and says, "Fine, but don't complain when you end up wasting so much time." With this, they all patiently wait for Tsukune to wake up.

After almost an hour, Tsukune regained consciousness. "Look, he's waking up.", Moka says as Tsukune begins to open his eyes. "Rise and shine sleepy head.", Reiji says as Tsukune sits up and the boy sees that his friends are all around him. "How long was I out?", Tsukune asks as he feels his sore face. "About an hour.", Mizore says as she looks at the sun's position. "We're so sorry about knocking you out like that Tsukune.", Kurumu says as she hugs him. "Yeah, we're both very sorry.", Yukari adds as she also hugs him. "You guys. I'm fine, so there isn't anything to be sorry about.", Tsukune replies with a smile. The two girls look at him and say, "Oh Tsukune.", before squeezing him with their hugs. "Hey, save some room for me.", Mizore says as she hugs Tsukune. Moka blushes and says, "I want to join in too.", then hugs Tsukune from behind. "Damn, can't you all give the boy some space?", Reiji asks as he gets up and lights himself a cigarette. They simply laugh and the four girls tackle Tsukune onto his back. As he lays on his back he looks up to see bright yellow flowers on a hillside. "What are those?", he asks as he points to the flowers on the hillside. Everyone stops what they are doing to look at where he's pointing and Reiji says, "Well lets go find out." The group gets up and begins to trek to the top of the hillside. Once they make it up there, they see a giant field of sunflowers. "Wow, this is gorgeous.", Kurumu comments. "Yeah, this is a great view.", Yukari adds. "Lets get a closer look.", Tsukune suggests as he starts walking down a well kept path towards the sunflower field with Reiji following close behind. "Wait up guys.", Yukari and Kurumu shout as they follow after the boys. As they wander the sunflower field, Reiji feels a familiar tingling in the back of his head. "I know someone's watching us, but there are too many hiding places to check. I'll be on guard and if they try anything I can block it and counter.", Reiji thinks to himself as he keeps a close eye on Tsukune so he doesn't get lost in the field. As the group keeps adventuring through the field, they start to hear a couple nearby talking about the sunflower field. "We need to get out of here. It isn't safe here.", the woman says nervously. "Why? It seems just fine to me.", the man replies as he looks around. "You don't know? This is Witch Hill! People go missing here all the time! They say the witch who lives here captures any human she finds and tortures them to death.", the woman says in a serious tone. The man sighs and asks, "Where did you get all of this information? The internet?" "I have my sources, now lets get out of here.", the woman says as she grabs him by the arm and pulls him down the trail. Kurumu snickers and looks to Yukari as she says, "Hear that? Apparently there is a witch who goes around capturing humans." Yukari scoffs and says, "You shouldn't believe everything you hear." "Well, what I do know for sure is that little kiddy witches like you get on my nerves.", Kurumu says as she gets in Yukari's face. Yukari simply lifts her wand and drops a golden wash tub on the girl's head. "What the heck was that?", Kurumu growls as she snatches the pan off the ground. Yukari laughs and says, "It was just a wash tub." Tsukune walks up to them before Kurumu has the chance to smash the pan against the young witch's head and says, "Hey, there's no need to fight. Besides, we need to head back anyways. And Yukari, remember, no magic." Yukari sighs as she puts her wand away and walks with Tsukune, Kurumu, Reiji, Moka, and Mizore back to the camp site.

Once they get back to camp, they begin to setup a tent and get a fire started. Reiji and Moka work on the fire as Tsukune and the others work on the tent. Ms. Nekanome says, "Well, your teacher is off to get some fish for dinner." Reiji and Moka look in the cooler and Moka says, "But Ms. Nekanome, we already have plenty of food." Ms. Nekanome shakes her head with a dissatisfied look as she wags her finger and says, "No, no, no. We're in the human world and it's only appropriate that we have fresh fish. Doesn't the human world have the best fish?" Reiji sighs and says, "Here, take this.", as he tosses her a net. She eyeballs the net and Reiji says, "Humans use nets and fishing poles to catch fish, so if you want to get human world fish then you'll have to catch them like a human if you don't want to look suspicious." She reluctantly takes the net with her and runs off. As everyone works on their projects, Yukari is looking for something to do and Reiji watches as she asks everyone if they need help and they reject her one by one. Yukari looks over to Reiji, who's cooking things on the fire and asks him, "You wouldn't happen to need any help with the fire, would you?" Reiji sighs and says, "I could use more fire wood, but I'd like to get it myself. Could you watch the fire while I'm gone?" She nods her head and determination fills her eyes as she sits by the fire and keeps it burning. Reiji walks around the hillside and finds a few dead branches and leaves to use for the fire. When he returns he sees that the fire is unattended and Yukari is nowhere to be found. "Where the hell did she run off to?", Reiji asks with a slight scowl on his face. "Who? Yukari? I saw her run off to somewhere a few minutes ago.", Mizore replies as she looks around for the small girl. A few minutes pass and Reiji fries a few skewered fish on the fire before handing them out to everyone around the fire. "So, where's Yukari?", Tsukune asks as he takes a bite of the fish on a stick. "Don't know. She ran off a while ago.", Kurumu says as she bites into her fish on a stick. "She's probably fine.", Reiji says as he finishes cooking the last of the fish. Tsukune has a worried look on his face and stands up before saying, "I'm going to look for her. I'll be right back." With that, he runs off to the hillside and Reiji says, "If he isn't back in like five minutes we'll have to go check on him, agreed?" Everyone nods their head in response and continue to eat their meal. Five minutes pass and everyone seems a bit uneasy. "Well we better go check on them. Knowing Tsukune, they probably ran into some sort of trouble.", Reiji suggests as he puts out the fire by kicking sand on it before the group goes to check on the others. They eventually find Yukari and Tsukune, but it seems as if there was some kind of battle that they all missed since there are what looks to be dead plant monsters on the ground. "Yukari!", Kurumu shouts as she and Mizore run up to her to see if she's alright. "You better not die on us!", Kurumu shouts as she kneels down to check on Yukari. "Kurumu, I'm fine.", Yukari replies as she stands up, but falls back to her knees. "You don't look too fine to me.", Mizore notes as she looks over to Yukari. "Let me carry you back to camp.", Kurumu suggests as she holds out her hand to Yukari. "No, I can walk on my own.", Yukari stubbornly replies as she slowly rises to her feet. "You sure are something, you know that kid?", Reiji says, surprised that she can still walk. Everyone stops what they're doing to look at a taller girl with long black hair in a black and pink dress. "So I'm guessing you're the culprit here then?", Reiji asks with a glare aimed at the girl. "Reiji don't.", Yukari begs, but the demon doesn't seem to even be listening before glancing over to see Yukari's worried face. Reiji sighs and says, "Fine, but if she does something stupid I'm going to kill her." Everyone can tell that Reiji is beyond serious now, as his more relaxed posture is completely gone as he's ready to strike at a moments notice, and they all worry what the girl might do next. Yukari looks over to the girl and says, "Ruby, I'm sorry, but I can't go with you. I hope you understand." Yukari begins to walk back to the camp on her own, surprising everyone and causing the group to suddenly chase after her. "Hey, wait up. Stop being so thick headed and let me carry you.", Kurumu says as she tries to convince Yukari to let her carry her. "Nah, we witches are very good at healing ourselves you know.", Yukari explains with a smile. "You're pretty bad at acting tough.", Kurumu says mockingly to her. "And you're bad at saying how you feel.", Mizore says to succubus. Reiji walks in front of Yukari stopping her in her tracks and says, "I'm not asking.", then he picks her up, throws her over his right shoulder and carries her against her will. "Hey! Put me down! Stop treating me like a baby!", Yukari shouts as she struggles to break free. "Actually, I'm treating you just like everyone else in this situation. If it were Tsukune or Moka or literally anyone else they would be in the same spot you are in so stop complaining.", Reiji says as he slaps her upside her head. She stops struggling and they stop to talk for a second. "Moka and Tsukune better stop that name thing or I'm going to be sick.", Kurumu says as she glares at Moka. "Same here.", Mizore says as she covers her mouth as if she feels like she might vomit. Reiji sighs and begins to say, "Just give it a second, it'll be over before you-", but before he can finish, Tsukune hits the ground in a pool of his own blood and everyone is left in shock. "Yukari will come back with me because it is my wish and because her ladyship demands it.", Ruby says as her wand glows with pink energy. "T-Tsukune?", Moka says in shock as she looks down at the boy's bleeding body. Suddenly she screams out in rage causing a pillar of pink light to form around her and she transforms into her inner form with the rosary still around her neck. "Wait, she can do that?", Reiji asks with his eyes widened in shock with Yukari still over his shoulder. They both look to see Mizore freezing everything around her and Kurumu in her succubus form flying towards Ruby with her nails extended, ready to kill. Reiji grabs Tsukune's body and drags it with him and Yukari behind a tree and says, "Hold onto the tree and hope it doesn't go flying." "Why?", Yukari asks in a panic before Kurumu, Mizore, and Moka all attack Ruby at once, causing a big explosion of monster energy which sends almost everything in the area flying. As the wind dies down, Reiji looks out from behind the tree to see an unconscious Ruby with the girls all looking very tired. "Damn, remind me not to fight them all at once.", Reiji says jokingly as he comes out to see what they should do next. As he gets closer to them they all pass out and fall to the ground. "Well, I guess I'm going to have to carry everyone back to the camp then. You wouldn't happen to be able to walk yet, would you Yukari?", Reiji says as he checks on Yukari's condition. There is no response from the young witch, causing the boy to glance up at her. When he checks to see what might be wrong, he sees she has a giant bump on her head and is knocked completely out. "Well, I guess I'm carrying the team, literally.", Reiji says as he picks up everyone and throws them on his shoulders and arms. He carries all six of them back to the tent and waits for them to wake up as he bandages up their wounds.


	12. Chapter 12: Heavy Gardening

Reiji somehow manages to carry everyone back to the campsite and get everyone into the tent before tending to Tsukune's wound. As he tends to Tsukune's wound, which is a gash that reaches from his right shoulder to his elbow, he asks himself, "Why do I have to be friends with idiots?" He gently lays Tsukune down on a sleeping bag before checking to see if the girls have any injuries that he didn't notice before. Reiji lets out a sigh of relief before saying in an agitated tone, "You're all lucky to come out of that with just scrapes, that was a giant fucking explosion." Reiji then looks over at Ruby, who he sat down in a corner by herself and says, "I guess you just didn't know what you were getting yourself into, huh?" He then steps out of the tent to smoke a cigarette and relax a little. He finds himself a nice spot in the sand before sitting down and lighting his cigarette and saying to himself, "I guess I gotta wait until they all wake up to do something about that other witch. Hopefully Yukari didn't get too attached." He sits outside of the tent for roughly half an hour before he hears someone start to wake up. As he walks into the tent, he sees Tsukune looking at his wrapped arm before asking Reiji, "What the heck happened?" Reiji sighs and says, "Long story short, the girls were idiots and you almost died. Good enough?" Tsukune's expression changes from confusion to even further confusion as he realizes that Ruby is over in the corner. "So, you brought her back here too?", Tsukune asks, surprised by Reiji's kindness. Reiji glares at the boy and says, "Well, I would like to get some answers out of her, but she's unconscious so I'm getting a whole lot of nothing for a while." Tsukune smiles at Reiji and says, "Good job Reiji. Thanks for helping us all out." Suddenly Moka and the other girls, except for Ruby, begin to regain consciousness. "Tsukune? Tsukune!", the girls all shout in unison as they all sit up and remember Tsukune almost dying and needing to save him. When they all realize that he's alive they all tackle him in excitement. "Tsukune! You're alive!", Yukari shouts in surprise. "Of course he's alive, he wouldn't leave me all alone, right Tsukune?", Kurumu adds as she cuddles up against him. "No, he's alive because he wanted to see his little snow bunny again.", Mizore interjects as she does the same to Tsukune, but to the opposite side. Reiji pulls them all off of Tsukune and says, "No, all of you are alive because I carried your asses all the way back here and made sure you weren't dead! Now stop screwing around before you fuck up his stitches!" Reiji can tell that they all don't seem to care about that and only want to be near Tsukune. Reiji sighs before asking, "Hey Yukari, you think you can use your magic to heal up Tsukune a little quicker?" Yukari picks up her wand and begins to use her magic to heal Tsukune's wound. Reiji then points over to Ruby and says, "Now we have to wait on her to wake up." They all look at Ruby and Yukari says, "You grabbed Ruby too?" Reiji sits down and says, "Yep, I wanted some answers so I brought her back with the rest of you." Kurumu walks to the exit for the tent and says, "Well I'm going to get us some drinks since we're probably going to be waiting here for a while." As Kurumu leaves to get everyone drinks Mizore asks, "So what was your plan if she woke up before us?" Reiji places his hand over his hand and ponders what he might have done before saying, "I'd probably have just knocked her out again." The girls all glare at him, but he doesn't seem phased by it. Kurumu returns to the tent with several cans of tea and passes them out to everyone. "So, I guess we just have to wait for her to wake up then, right?", Moka asks the group. Tsukune nods in response and everyone waits for Ruby to regain consciousness while drinking their tea.

After a while, Yukari's magic heals Tsukune's wound completely and he's able to take off the bandage wrap. "Wow Yukari, you actually did something.", Kurumu says to her jokingly. Yukari looks over to Kurumu with a smug look on her face and says, "How about you be a good maid and get me another tea Kurumu?" Suddenly Ruby seems to be waking up and everyone gathers around her. As she wakes up she springs up on instinct, prepared to fight her way out, but she almost runs face first into the can of tea that Tsukune's offering her. "Here, you must be thirsty. Don't worry, everyone else already have theirs.", Tsukune says as she reluctantly takes the can from him. "You can't buy me off with some tea if that's what you are trying to pull.", Ruby says as she glares at Tsukune. Tsukune smiles at her and says, "We just want to know your part of the story is all, if you're willing to tell us." Ruby sighs and says, "This place is called Witch Hill and it has been a home for witches for many years never bothering anybody, but then they came. The humans came and began to destroy our home, treating it like it was nothing! So I have to kill all of them!" Tsukune gives Ruby a worried look and says, "But Ruby." Reiji sighs and says, "So you really see no other alternative? You really are a fool." Ruby turns to him with rage filling her voice as she exclaims, "How dare you? They're threatening to take everything we have! Of course there isn't any other option!" "Those humans are people too. You can't just kill them and be done with it. Didn't your parents teach you any common sense?", Reiji scolds the witch with a stern glare. "You can't be serious about killing all humans, are you?", Moka asks in a concerned tone. Ruby throws her can of tea across the tent and shouts, "Who cares about a bunch of humans!? So what if I kill them all!? They're nothing more than scum!" Kurumu interjects by saying, "You witches are a scary bunch if you think that's an actual option. Killing all of the humans makes you no better than them." "Hey, we aren't that scary.", Yukari proclaims defensively. As Kurumu blows her off, the succubus tells her, "Yeah, you little kid witches aren't." "There you go calling me a kid again.", Yukari grumbles in an irritated tone before Ruby begins shouting, "Everyone just shut up! If they take that hill I'll be left with nowhere else to go!" Tsukune seems to suddenly get an idea before looking to her and saying, "Well if that's the problem then you can come back with us." Reiji gives him a confused glance and says, "She just tried to kill you and you're inviting her to go to school with us? Did you really lose that much blood Tsukune?" Tsukune just smiles and says, "She can can change, I'm certain of it." Tsukune picks up her now dented can and hands it to her while asking, "How about it? Would you like to come with us, back to our school?" Moka seems to get an idea and says, "Oh, she could even join the Newspaper Club with us!" Kurumu seems a bit upset and asks, "So we'll have two witches?" Yukari starts to grope Kurumu and says, "Yeah, we're taking over and there's not a thing you can do about it!" "Will you stop groping me!", Kurumu shouts as she tries to pull Yukari off her back, but fails. "Do you want me to cool her off a bit?", Mizore asks as she points her hand at Kurumu and Yukari. "No! You'll freeze us all solid!", Kurumu shouts as she throws her arms up defensively. Tsukune just laughs and says, "Well it's late. We should all get some rest." "Yeah, we have to go back tomorrow morning so we need to get some sleep.", Moka says as she starts to lay down. Reiji sighs and says, "Whatever, if you want to sleep with the person who just tried to kill you Tsukune, go right ahead. Just don't come crying to me when it backfires." They all go to sleep and later in the night Ruby sneaks out on her own. Reiji watches her leave the tent and thinks, "This isn't good. What could she be up to now?" After about an hour after Ruby left, Reiji woke everyone up saying, "Hey guys, Ruby's gone." They all get their shoes on and run off to try to find her. Kurumu doesn't even bother putting on her yellow shirt since she's still wearing her white dress shirt she usually wears underneath it. Moka's wearing her white night gown while Yukari, Mizore, Reiji and Tsukune wear their usual uniforms.

As the group runs through the forest to the sunflower field to find Ruby, roots bust out of the ground and grab the girls and Tsukune. She tries to catch Reiji too, but he manages to dodge her attack. "You're all getting in my mistress' way! You all should've left when you had the chance!", Ruby shouts as she flies above them with her black wings. "Ruby, why're you doing this? I thought we were friends.", Yukari asks with a frightened look on her face. "I'm doing this because it's my desire and because her ladyship wishes it.", Ruby replies as she glares down at the group. Kurumu, Yukari and Mizore all break free with their powers as they transform into their monster forms and Kurumu says, "Simple roots won't stop us!" Ruby laughs at this and says, "Well, then we'll need more than roots then, won't we?" As Ruby lifts her wand up into the air, it begins to glow and the ground begins to shake uncontrollably. A giant hoard of plant monsters busts out from under the earth and Ruby exclaims, "This is her ladyship's legion! First we'll crush you then the humans!" As the roots start to drag Moka away, she screams out for help. Tsukune chases after her while shouting, "Moka!", before getting pulled into a hoard of roots himself. Seeing this, Reiji lights himself a cigarette before saying, "They're just roots, they can't hurt him that bad. Now let's get her." He quickly transforms into his S class form and Kurumu says, "Yeah, let's show her. We're not going to just let her hurt humans." "Yeah, that's just cold.", Mizore adds as she sharpens her ice claws. Yukari pulls out her metal cards and seems to hesitate a bit before saying, "I won't let you hurt Tsukune or my friends." They all charge at the hoard, slicing and freezing as many as they can. As Reiji slices his way through the hoard with his claws, he says, "Wow, you call this a legion? These guys might as well just be scarecrows! They're so frail and weak!" Ruby grins and says, "They might be frail, but they make up for it with this!" As she raises her wand up into the air again, the chunks of dead plants start to reform themselves and Reiji says, "Reforming themselves after being destroyed? That's interesting!" "No! Not interesting, more like a pain in the ass!", Kurumu shouts as she flies by a group of them and slices them to pieces with her nails before landing next to Reiji. Yukari slices a path through to Reiji while saying, "This makes things a bit more difficult now!" Mizore freezes a few of them and they shatter into tiny pieces before she says, "They don't seem to want to stay down." They all reform again as she makes her way over to the rest of the group. Suddenly, a pillar of pink light forms in the middle of the giant ocean of roots. They see Moka standing there with her rosary removed and Tsukune bound by roots with the rosary in his hand. Moka starts fighting off the plant monsters while smugly saying, "Good job Tsukune. At least you made yourself useful this time." Tsukune smiles at her then seems to stare off into the distance before a root slices him across his cheek, causing him to bleed. Moka actually seems concerned and shouts, "Tsukune!", before jumping up to him and kicking the roots that bind him until they let go. "You other girls take care of Tsukune. Reiji and I will do our best to handle these guys and Ruby.", Moka says as Tsukune drops down into Kurumu's arms. "The house!", Tsukune says as Kurumu puts him down and he starts running off in a random direction. "Tsukune, where the hell are you going!?", Reiji shouts as he slices through some of the plants in his way. "There's a house! I think that's where her ladyship is!", Tsukune replies as he continues to run towards the building in the distance. Reiji just sighs and says, "You girls make sure he gets through these guys in one piece. I have to go give Moka some backup." The three girls all nod before rushing over to Tsukune's side as Reiji slices another path through the roots and plant monsters to Moka. Moka keeps kicking any plant that gets close to her, but one tries to attack her from below. She sees it at the last second, but can't react in time to dodge or attack so she plans to just take the hit. Reiji manages to slice through it as it's just about to hit her, causing the whole thing to fall to pieces. "Reiji?", Moka asks in her confusion. "Come on, we have to find a way to kill these things! They don't stay down for long if we just cut them down, so we have to find another way!", Reiji says as his cigarette begins to burn down to the filter. He spits it out at one of the plants before slicing it in half and Moka says, "Well, we'll just keep knocking them down until we find a way to kill them." They continue to fight the plant monsters with Mizore, Kurumu and Yukari when they finally return from helping Tsukune to the house. "What took you all so long? Run into some trouble?", Reiji asks sarcastically. All three of them are breathing heavily with sweat dripping off of them, soaking their clothes to the point where he can see their underwear. "There were... so many... blocking our way.", Kurumu says as she continues to try to catch her breath. "Why don't these guys stay down?", Yukari asks as she forces herself to keep fighting. "It seems like Ruby's bringing them all back with her wand.", Moka notes as she points up at Ruby who keeps raising her wand before the plants put themselves back together. Moka and the others are too busy watching her wand to notice the small root popping out of the ground. It quickly busts out of the ground and grabs Moka by her legs before pulling her up into the air. As it lifts her up, they can all see her bright white panties and Reiji jokingly says, "I see London, I see France!" "Reiji, now might not be the best of times!", Yukari shouts as the hoard of plant monsters forms around them again. "What? These guys? They're a joke, just like Ruby.", Reiji says before slicing them all down in a second. "That's getting easier at least. Maybe their bodies aren't as strong as they originally were since they've been put back together so many times now.", Reiji thinks before he looks up to see roots tearing at Moka's clothes. "Ruby, stop this!", Yukari begs the witch. "Yeah, she's already showing off her panties. If she shows anything else, we might not see her the same way ever again.", Reiji adds jokingly. Moka glares down at him with her red face and Ruby shouts, "Shut up! You all are siding with the humans, so I have to crush you just like I do them!" Tsukune returns and shouts, "Ruby, stop this madness!" "Madness? This is what her ladyship wishes! This is far from madness!", Ruby shouts. "I went to the house Ruby, her ladyship wasn't there!", Tsukune says in a slightly saddened tone. "Nonsense! You're lying! She's perfectly safe in her room!", Ruby replies in frustration. "No she's dead! She's been dead this whole time!", Tsukune shouts at her, causing the girl's eyes to widen in disbelief. Ruby seems to be in disbelief and says, "No, that... that can't be." "Her ladyship is gone Ruby. And without her, you were lost. And from the pain you felt from her death you made a false image of her in your head, didn't you Ruby? Just so you could keep on living.", Tsukune says as he looks up at the girl as she starts to cry. She continues to cry before shouting, "No, NOOOO!", then casting a spell with her wand causing the roots in the ground to grab everyone but Reiji and wrap them in a giant ball of roots. "I'll use that one spell and crush you all!", she shouts as her wand begins to glow brighter and brighter. "No, don't do it Ruby!", Yukari shouts, causing everyone to look at her with worried glances. "W-what's she doing Yukari!?", Kurumu asks nervously as her gaze focuses on the witch's glowing wand. "That's a forbidden spell! If she uses that spell there's nobody who can save her!", Yukari says through her tears as the wand finally reaches its limit of magic energy. A giant pillar of light engulfs Ruby as Yukari shouts, "Ruby!" As the light finally dissipates, they see Ruby has fused with a giant plant monster and that all her smaller plant monsters are gone. "What the hell do I do about that!?", Reiji shouts as he points at her in disbelief. "My wand!", Yukari shouts as she gets an idea. Reiji looks up in confusion and Yukari shouts, "Reiji, throw me my wand!" He finds her wand under some dead plant flesh and tosses it up to her. She manages to catch it before looking over to Kurmu and saying, "Ready Kurumu?" Kurumu says, "Yeah, let's do this.", and Yukari casts a spell to make her shoe fall off. Kurumu extends her toe nails and slices through the roots holding her before freeing everyone else tied to the ball of roots. She slices the roots holding Moka's legs and Moka shouts, "Don't think just because you're all big now that you can beat me!" She starts wailing on Ruby's giant body before realizing there's something stuck to her body. As she looks down to check what it is, she sees it's a root digging into her thigh that's sucking out her blood. "I'm not just big, I can also take the powers of any monster I want. And since I'm taking your blood, I'm just as strong as you now! And by draining your blood, I'm also making you weaker!", Ruby says in a demented voice. Roots suddenly jet out of Ruby's new body and grab Moka by her arms and legs before starting to drain her of her blood. Reiji puts his hand over his face and says, "That's all I needed to hear.", before transforming into his SS class form. "Yukari, how do we get around this?", Reiji asks her. "H-her wand. If you destroy a witch's wand they can't do anything. Maybe that will save her.", Yukari suggests nervously. Reiji laughs to himself and says, "Thanks Yukari, but first we should probably save Moka. Vampires are useless when their blood's running low." Reiji's large hellhound jumps out of his cloak and bites through the roots draining Moka's blood before catching her as she starts to fall. With a lack of blood, Moka is barely able to do anything but lay on the dog's back. The hellhound quickly takes her back over to Tsukune and the others while Reiji starts his battle with Ruby. Tsukune lifts her off of the hellhound's back and says, "Thank you.", before it starts heading back to Reiji. "Is she still alive?", Mizore asks as they look down at Moka. "Well, let's find out.", Yukari says as she checks to see if Moka still has a pulse. "Come on... don't die on us now Moka.", Yukari thinks to herself as she desperately tries to find a pulse. She finds one and says, "She's alive! We need to get her some blood, quick!" Suddenly, the hellhound is back and nudges Yukari, knocking her out of the way. "Hey, what did you do that for?", Yukari asks before they see the hellhound bite down on Moka's wrist! "Hey! Don't bite her!", Tsukune shouts as he tries to pull the beast away. The hellhound is barely bothered by this, but eventually lets go and Moka starts to wake up. As the beast takes a few steps back, they see the its teeth are dripping blood, but it doesn't seem to have left any bite marks behind. "What!? No bite marks, but how?!", Kurumu asks in disbelief. Tsukune holds Moka in his arms as she looks up at him. When she realizes who's holding her, she pushes him away with a bright red face while saying, "Idiot, I never said you could hold me like that! I have to get back to the fight!" She looks up to see Reiji trying to get to the wand, but getting slapped out of the air by one of Ruby's many giant root arms. He comes crashing down near them, creating a giant crater where he lands. They hear him laughing from inside the crater before he says, "You're such a pain in the ass! Just die already! I want to go back to sleep!", while jumping out of the crater. The hellhound walks over to him and Reiji notices that Moka's back in the game. "Finally up from your nap I see.", he says mockingly to her. "Shut up and help me break that wand. Yukari said it was her weak spot, right?", Moka growls as she glares at Ruby's wand. Reiji laughs to himself and says, "Sure, two people should make this a whole lot easier." The hellhound jumps one way while Reiji jumps the other and Moka jumps straight at Ruby. Ruby tries to hit Moka, but the hellhound pulls her out of the way and sends her over to Reiji. "Spring board!", Reiji says as he holds his arms up to block. "You better not be looking!", Moka shouts as she points her legs at him and prepares to kick off of him to change directions. He looks away and she uses all the power she has left to launch herself at Ruby's wand with a dive kick! "I'll end this here and now!", Moka shouts before she shatters the wand with a single kick. As the wand falls to pieces, there's a giant explosion of monster energy and Ruby is nowhere to be found.

The next morning, everyone has their bags and are waiting for the bus to arrive. Tsukune sighs and says, "I wish I could've done something. Maybe if I did something just a little better she'd still be here." "There's no point in worrying about it now Tsukune.", Reiji tells him as he lights himself a cigarette. "You tried your best Tsukune. Sometimes there's no way to get through to people.", Moka explains to him in her usual kind tone. "I know, it's just...", Tsukune begins to say before the bus pulls up and the doors swing open. They all see Gin holding Ruby in his arms as he walks off the bus and says, "Hey guys, I'm finally free." They all just look at him in amazement. "What? I thought you all would be happy to see your club president free from his summer classes.", Gin says slightly disappointed by the lack of attention. "That's Ruby! How did you find her Gin!?", Yukari asks, still somewhat left in disbelief. "Oh, Ruby's her name? Well, I found her floating in the ocean, just floating along. I thought she was dead at first, but she's actually alive. We're taking her back to the Academy to get treatment.", Gin explains. Reiji sighs and says, "Well, good for her. I call the back seat.", as he makes his way onto the bus. "Yeah, let's go home. The human world is okay, but we have work to do.", Yukari says as she makes her way onto the bus. "I call sitting by Tsukune!", Kurumu shouts as she grabs onto Tsukune's right arm. "No, I'm sitting by Tsukune.", Mizore says as she grabs his other arm. The bus driver peeks his head out the doors and says, "If you all don't get on this bus in the next ten seconds, none of you are sitting next to Tsukune. You'll just be standing." They all nervously look at each other before rushing onto the bus and throwing themselves into seats randomly. Kurumu and Yukari end up sitting next to each other, Tsukune ends up with Moka again and Mizore's by herself right behind Kurumu and Yukari. Gin sits in the front with Ruby in his arms and Ms. Nekonome sits across from him with a cooler full of fish. "Okay, now let's get back to Yokai Academy!", the bus driver shouts before they head back to Yokai Academy.


	13. Chapter 13: This Just In

It's another morning with Tsukune and his friends and they're printing out their first edition of their club newspaper since the end of summer break. "This edition is shaping up quite nicely, don't you think?", Tsukune says as he picks up a copy fresh off the press. "It sure is!", Yukari says with excitement. "I think the real highlight is the article on fashions in the human world. The girls on campus will love it.", Moka notes as she looks at the article. Kurumu butts in by confidently saying, "Of course they will. That's because I wrote it." Tsukune starts flipping through the paper to find the article and when he does, he reads through it while saying, "A dark tan and loose socks? I see, nice job Kurumu." "Loose socks? Those haven't been in style for like twenty years I think, are they coming back into style again?", Reiji asks as he looks at the article. Reiji continues to look through the paper and says, "We have more content in here than we usually do, that's good." "Yeah, great job everyone. I'm really impressed.", Tsukune says as he also looks through the newspaper more. Mizore pokes her head out from under the table and says, "So am I, hey Tsukune." Tsukune jumps when he hears his name and turns to see her poking her head out from under the table. "Hi Mizore...", he replies nervously as he recovers from his near heart attack. "Why so jumpy? You should expect this from her by now Tsukune.", Reiji suggests as he continues to flip through the papers. "Well don't just stand there! We have a lot of work to do still!", Kurumu shouts as she starts to collect the finished papers into piles. Mizore turns to her and says, "Wow, you're really worked up about this, aren't you?" Kurumu grabs Tsukune and pulls him to her side by his arm and says, "Well yeah, Tsukune and I worked really hard on these papers." "Hey, you weren't the only one to work with Tsukune on these papers Kurumu!", Yukari shouts with an irritated glare aimed towards the succubus. "Yeah, it was a group effort Kurumu.", Moka adds with a smile as she looks to the rest of the group. "You know, at first I just thought you guys were just a really weird click of friends, but now I see.", Mizore notes as she watches the group's interaction. "You see what? That we're weirder than expected?", Reiji says jokingly with a slight grin. "No, I realized this Newspaper Club isn't half bad.", Mizore replies with a slight smile. Tsukune just smile at that response and says, "Well, we still have a little time before class starts. Why don't we start handing these out?" Everyone agrees and they make their way out to the courtyard to start handing out their papers.

When they finally arrive in the main courtyard, they see a group of girls also handing out newspapers, except their papers are in color and they hear students talking about how it has articles on fashions from the human world and swim suit photos. "Just what the hell are they all reading!?", Kurumu growls before storming off to confront the other girls. "It looked like it said Yokai Square.", Yukari notes as she picks a copy of the new newspaper off the ground. "That's a weird name for a porn magazine.", Reiji says jokingly as he looks over the girl's shoulder at the lewd swimsuit photos. "What's the big idea!? Who gave you permission to start handing out newspapers!?", Kurumu asks the girls accusingly with her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face. "What do you mean permission?", one of the girls asks with a confused glance. Kurumu snatches one of the papers from the girl's hands and says, "And this rag, this Yokai Square or whatever, isn't even a legitimate newspaper, unlike our Yokai Gazette put out by the Newspaper Club." "Yes it is.", a girl says from out of nowhere. They all turn to see a girl dressed in the usual Yokai Academy uniform with dark purple hair and red eyes. "Who the hell are you?", Kurumu asks with an irritated yet confused glare aimed towards the girl. "Me? I'm Kato, the Super Newspaper Club president.", the girl replies smugly as she walks over to the three girls passing out newspapers. "Super Newspaper Club? I'd like to meet the genius who spent three long years coming up with that name. I bet they're the top of their class and everything.", Reiji says to her mockingly. "Another Newspaper Club? What the hell is that?", Kurumu growls. Reiji picks up one of the papers off the ground and says, "It's hardly a newspaper, more of a porn magazine if you ask me, but whatever. If you want to hand out porn on campus, be my guest. But good luck not getting your asses kicked out when the Headmaster finds out." Kato is infuriated by this and says, "We are a newspaper club and we have permission from the school to act as such, see?", before showing them her official paperwork. "Oh, so your the Porno Mag Club, but you're too afraid to admit it. I understand.", Reiji replies mockingly, causing the girl's face to turn a slight shade of red. "You're really getting on my nerves, boy.", Kato growls with a glare focused on the demon boy. "I'm still confused, why is there a second newspaper club?", Tsukune asks in his confusion. "Well, your papers were just sooo boring that we decided to make our own newspaper, one that will make everyone forget about yours.", Kato explains with a smug look on her face. "Like hell it will, big mouth!", Kurumu shouts in frustration as she takes another step towards the girl, trying to intimidate her. "If you don't believe me, try to compete against us. K?", Kato suggests before walking off. "That's what we'll do!", Kurumu exclaims before turning around to her friends and saying, "Come on, we can't let them beat us!" They all start handing out newspapers, but the crowd isn't interested in their simple, black and white papers anymore and just throw the papers away, disappointed by the lack of swim suit photos.

They head back to see Miss Nekonome and when they finally track her down in the teacher lounge, Kurumu asks, "What the hell is this Super Newspaper Club?" Miss Nekonome turns around in her teacher's chair to look at them and says, "I'm sorry, I just learned about them myself yesterday." "Still, how did they approve a second Newspaper Club when they already had one working? It doesn't make any sense.", Reiji says as he leans against her desk. "Well, they won't let two separate newspaper clubs to exist. They'll scrap the least popular one and keep the more popular one.", Miss Nekonome explains, surprising all of them. "What? No way!", Tsukune exclaims in disbelief. "You can't be serious! They can't just do this to us!", Yukari says in complete shock. "Then fine. Bring it on!", Kurumu growls to herself, causing everyone to glance over to her. "Kurumu, what are you talking about?", Moka asks with a worried look. "It's between us in the Newspaper Club and those snarks in the Super Newspaper Club! If this is about who's most popular then let's show those jerks who number one!", Kurumu explains as she begins to burn with a fiery passion. "Wait a moment! Don't we have to talk this over with Gin first?", Tsukune asks and Moka nods in response. "Yeah, he is our club president after all.", Moka adds, but Kurumu doesn't care. "Who cares what that pervert thinks!? I bet you any amount of money that he's off with his camera peeping on girls like he usually does!", Kurumu shouts furiously. Kurumu grabs Yukari by her arm and says, "Come on Yukari, you're gonna help me with my master plan!" "What!? Why me!?", Yukari asks in a panic, to which Kurumu kindly replies, "Because you're one of the smartest girls I know and I need you for this to work." Yukari blushes and says, "Well, when you put it like that, I have to join." They run off together and Moka says, "We have to go get Gin. He needs to know about this." Reiji sighs and says, "You guys go on ahead. I'll make sure those two don't get into any trouble." They split up in the hallway, Reiji going off on his own while Moka, Tsukune and Mizore go to find Gin.

Reiji eventually finds Kurumu and Yukari in the cafeteria handing out newspapers in maid outfits and whispers to himself, "Really? Maid outfits? What'll they think up next?" "We're Yokai Academy's Newspaper Club!", Yukari and Kurumu say in unison. "None of you fine gentlemen want to miss out on a copy of our Yokai Gazette, do you?", Kurumu says seductively to the crowd of guys in front of them. Yukari leans over to Kurumu and whispers, "Hey Kurumu, I'm feeling really embarrassed wearing this outfit!" Kurumu whisper back to her, "Hang in there, we have to wear them so we can win these guys over. So just grin and take it for the club, okay?" Yukari sighs and whispers, "Okay, I'll do it, but still..." Kurumu turns her attention back to the crowd and notices that they're all on the other side of the room looking at something. "What? What are you guys looking at?", Kurumu asks as they make their way over there. They see the same three girls from this morning passing out papers in their bikinis! "If you subscribe right now, you'll get these exclusive and oh so sexy snap shots of the three of us! They're free for subscribers! Just don't do anything 'naughty' with them, okay?", one of the girls says as the other two pose seductively in their swimming suits. Reiji walks in and says, "You guys do know how bad it'll look if you have near naked pictures of other students on you, right? You might even get expelled." All the guys suddenly get nervous looks on their faces before they all start to drop the pictures on the ground and they hear guys in the crowd say, "I don't wanna get expelled over a newspaper!", "These photos aren't sexy enough to risk expulsion!", and "Still not enough cleavage!" The guys all walk out of the room without any newspapers and one of the girls says, "Really? You're pulling out the code book on us?" Reiji just laughs to himself and says, "No, but if I wanted to I could turn you into the Headmaster for your risky clothes. But I'm too busy to deal with you three pests." Reiji turns back to Kurumu and Yukari and says, "Come on guys, let's get back to our room and think of a better strategy than, well, this." Then he sees a chubby guy harassing Yukari, saying, "I'll take you any day over those wild bikini girls. Because a cute little flat chested girl is what makes me feel all tingly inside." Reiji picks the guy up by the back of his jacket and says, "Filthy lolicon, go bother someone else!", before chucking him across the room. Yukari runs off crying while Kurumu and Reiji are left standing there. "Well, I guess we better head back then.", Kurumu says with a defeated sigh before they head back to their club room.

When they get to their club room, they see Yukari crying. "That guy was so creepy!", Yukari says as she wipes away her tears. "It's okay now. I beat him up good, so he isn't going to be bothering you again any time soon.", Reiji says as he pats her head. She seems to calm down a bit then Kurumu says, "Come on Yukari, it's alright. Let's get back to passing out papers." "What? You mean we're still gonna keep at it?", Yukari asks reluctantly with a sniffle. "Well yeah, we can't let those broads beat us! We'll be in bikinis too, but ours will be even skimpier!", Kurumu says before the door opens and they hear Gin say, "I'd like to see that, but no." Kurumu, Reiji, and Yukari turn to see Moka and Tsukune in the doorway with Gin right behind them. "I'm sorry guys, we didn't feel good about this, so we spoke to Gin.", Tsukune says with a depressing look on his face. "He's club president after all.", Moka adds with an equally sad look on her face. "This is one battle we're gonna have to lose. Nothing good can come from taking these guys on.", Gin notes as they all come into the room. "What, those twits? All they do is wear skimpy bikinis and flaunt themselves!", Kurumu shouts in frustration. "You were gonna do the exact same thing, so isn't that the pot calling the kettle black?", Yukari asks, to Kurumu responds with a swift slap to the ass, causing the girl to yelp in pain. "I'm more worried about who's behind them, and that's the Disciplinary Committee.", Gin says in a surprisingly serious tone. "The Disciplinary Committee?", Tsukune asks in confusion. "The Disciplinary Committee? Who or what is that?", Mizore asks as she comes out from behind the nearby chalk board. "Well, in a nutshell, they're a violent group of students that're supposed to protect the school and its students, but they're all about fighting first and asking questions later. They claim their keeping the peace and whatnot, but it's a load of crap.", Gin explains. "B-but we haven't done anything wrong, so why us Gin?", Moka asks and Gin looks to her with a worried look and explains, saying, "Because they're corrupt with power, that's why. The Committee is just a sham and they use force to get whatever they want from the student body. They're nothing more than a bunch of thugs extorting cash from other students." "I can't believe a group like that would be allowed to continue in a school like this.", Moka notes with a disappointed look on her face. "Really? I can see it. It's hard to just take away someone's power without giving a reason other than, 'this place looks corrupt so I'm shutting it down,' right?", Reiji says as he leans back in his chair. "Well, as for why they're targeting us, our little newspaper is getting a lot of attention and I'm guessing it's become a little thorn in their side.", Gin continues before Tsukune says, "Wait just a second, if there's a gang like that in our school, isn't it our job as the Newspaper Club to expose what they're doing?" "Yeah, you hit the nail right on the head, Tsukune!", Yukari says with excitement. "That's it! All we have to do is keep hammering away at them with article after article!", Kurumu says as she stands up from her seat. Gin slams his hand down on the table and stands up from his seat as he shouts, "Enough! We're not gonna debate this nonsense anymore! All these newspapers are going into the incinerator and that's the end of it, got it!?" He starts walking off to the door and right as he opens the door, Tsukune says, "No, wait!", as he also stands up from his seat. "But Gin, we worked so hard on it!", Moka says saddened by his decision. "You heard what I said!", he replies sternly. "But it doesn't make any sense!", Kurumu says as he starts walking out the door. "Do as I say, it's an official club decision.", he coldly replies as he walks out, shutting the door behind him. "I guess we have no other choice then. We better get moving so we aren't late for our next class.", Reiji suggests as he picks up a box in each arm and heads for the door. They all pick up a box and head for the incinerator.

When they reach the incinerator with some of the last of their papers, Tsukune says, "Well, here's the last of them, I think." "There should still a few more boxes inside. I'll go get them.", Moka says before heading back to the club room. "Need any help?", Reiji asks, but Yukari shakes her head no. "Don't worry, I'll give her a hand.", Yukari says saddened as she walks away with Moka. "Man, this really sucks. You worked really hard on these Kurumu. Now Mizore's gone off pouting to who knows where and as far as the Newspaper Club goes, what's going to happen to all of us?", Tsukune says as he ponders life for a second. "Hey guys, let's just take these papers and go hand them out right now.", Kurumu suggests as she kneels down to pick up the papers. Tsukune puts his hand on her shoulder and says, "You heard what Gin said, he's club president so we can't just-", before Kurumu interrupts him by asking, "Who cares!?" She starts to cry before saying, "These newspapers... You guys don't understand how precious they are to me. It's because I made them with you, Tsukune. They're something you and I created together." She picks up a package of the newspapers and holds it against her chest while saying, "The thought of having to burn something we worked so hard together to make, it's just too much! I can't do it!", before crying even more. As the young girl cries, Tsukune tries to comfort her, but they're interrupted when the three girls from the other newspaper club show up and one says, "Oh mistress! These three are still planning on passing out their crappy newspapers to everyone! Unleash your divine wrath upon them!" "You guys? Again? Don't you three have something better to do than lurk around this place?", Reiji asks as he lights a cigarette with the incinerator. "And who's this mistress?", Tsukune asks as Kurumu stands up to confront them, only to have the newspapers in her arm pulled away from her by webbing. They look to its source and see Kato, who's standing on a giant spiderweb nearby. Kato catches the paper and says, "These papers weigh so little, I guess they are light on content." Reiji, trying to piss her off, sighs and says, "No, they're light because they're paper, dumbass." "I was insulting you!", Kato shouts at him. "No, you were making yourself look stupid. Know the difference.", Reiji replies as he blows smoke at her. "We watched them just as you asked, Mistress.", the three girls say in unison. "Good job girls.", Kato replies as she lowers herself down to the ground with her webbing. "What the hell!? Why'd you have them watching us!?", Kurumu furiously shouts. "Isn't it a little too late in the book to introduce another girl to the harem?", Reiji asks sarcastically as he looks over at Tsukune. "No, I was keeping an eye on you lot because I knew you'd try to pass out your stupid papers sooner or later!", Kato growls as she glares at the demon boy, causing him to grin. Kato straightens herself out while thinking, "I'm letting him get to me, that isn't like me at all." She clears her throat with a cough and says, "As of this moment, your little Newspaper Club is done, got it?" "No we're not! And those are our papers, give them back right now!", Kurumu exclaims, demanding the papers be returned. "What did you just say!? Who do you think you are!?", Kato shouts as she throws the newspapers into the incinerator. As they start to burn, Kato says, "Would you look at that? I guess your trashy paper burns just like trash." Reiji sighs again and says, "Again, it's paper. Paper burns pretty well.", which causes the girl to only grit her teeth in frustration. Kurumu runs over to try to save the newspapers, but the three girls grab a hold of her, holding her right in front of the incinerator as the papers burn while saying, "Where do you think you're going? Those papers are gonna burn~" Tsukune quickly exclaims, "Don't worry Kurumu, I'll get them out!" as he starts to rush over to the incinerator as Reiji keeps Kato busy. She shoots webbing right by Reiji and flings Tsukune into the air, launching him right into her web. She throws off her Yokai uniform to reveal her black uniform underneath. Then she starts to transform into her monster form as six spider legs grow out of her rib cage. "Ah, so you're not just stupid, you're ugly too.", Reiji says mockingly to her face. "Shut your mouth!", Kato growls as her face turns red with embarrassment. "Ah, I'm getting to you, aren't I? It looks like I've already won the psychological war, now I just have to win the physical one.", Reiji says with a grin on his face. "War?", Kato asks in confusion. "Yes, I've been testing you to see how tough you Disciplinary Committee guys are, but it seems like you're a bunch of softies after all.", Reiji explains before laughing to himself. She takes advantage of this opening and backhands him with one of her spider legs, sending him flying through the forest. Kato slides on her Disciplinary Committee arm band and says, "Nobody messes with the Disciplinary Committee!" "You're with the Disciplinary Committee?", Tsukune asks like the idiot he is. "Yes, we keep order and make sure justice is served.", Kato explains. "Your order and justice are bullshit! You're nothing more than a group of low lives and thugs!", Kurumu shouts as she tries desperately to break free and save Tsukune and the papers. "A group of thugs you say? You really need an attitude adjustment!", Kato growls before webbing up Kurumu and the three girls in another web she has nearby. "W-what the hell!?", Kurumu asks as she tries to break free of the webbing. "It's no use, there's no escape for you now. Believe us, we know. Our Mistress caught you, just like she caught us.", the three girls say in unison. "You're probably wondering who those girls are, right? Well they're members of former clubs I've crushed.", Kato explains with a sadistic look on her face. The girls turn into their monster forms, a fly, butterfly, and a beetle like monsters. Kato jumps up into the web Kurumu is stuck in and starts crawling towards her while saying, "Once I injected them with my venom they became my loyal servants and that's exactly what I'm going to do to you." "Your wish is our command our Mistress! We're yours forever!", the three girls say in unison. As Kato gets closer, she says, "And all it'll take to change that attitude of yours is a tiny drop of my venom!" "No, stay away from me! I'd rather die than server a eight legged spider skank like you!", Kurumu shouts as she desperately tries to escape, but fails. "Oh I love it when I trap my prey in my web, they all struggle and scream, but there's no escape!", Kato says sadistically before laughing maniacally. "Hey spider woman, that's what you look like in your monster form? That's pretty gross.", Mizore says before launching a barrage of ice spears at her. Kato dodges and Tsukune asks, "Ice? Mizore?" As he says this, Mizore peeks out from her hiding spot behind a tree and says, "Hey, don't look so surprised. I couldn't let a terrible woman like that have you now, could I?" "If it's a fight you want snow woman, then it's a fight you'll get!", Kato exclaims before launching webbing at Mizore. It misses and hits the tree as Mizore ducks behind it for cover. She peeks out again and says, "Actually, I'm not the one you'll be fighting.", before a sudden surge of monster energy passes by them. Kato turns to see Reiji in his S class form with multiple sticks piercing his body. "You caught me off guard there Kato, but it won't happen again!", Reiji growls as he starts to pull out the sticks in his body. "Y-you're still alive, but I thought for sure-", Kato begins to say before they hear Moka shout, "Hey, are you guys okay!?" As Reiji starts to regenerate his wounds as he pulls the last of the sticks out of his chest, he says, "I've been better, but I'm alive so there's that. You get Tsukune, I'll deal with Kato." Yukari starts to cast a spell as she says, "I'll give you a step up Moka!" Three wash pans fall from the sky, landing one in front of the other, making a perfect set of steps for Moka. She quickly rushes up them and leaps towards Tsukune while shouting, "Tsukune, grab my hand!" "As if I'd let you take my prey from my web!", Kato growls as she shoots a string of web at Moka. Much to her surprise, Reiji jumps in the way of her attack and grabs a hold of her webbing. He flings the girl up into the air before pulling her straight down and slamming her face into the ground. As Tsukune reaches out for Moka's hand, he shouts, "Moka!" He goes to grab her hand, but misses and manages to pull off her rosary instead, releasing the other Moka! "What now!?", Kato asks as she turns and watches as Moka transforms into her inner form. Reiji tries to take advantage of this distraction and flings her up into the air to slam her down again, but Kato breaks off her webbing, freeing herself from his torment. "Aww, I was looking forward to turning you into a fine paste!", Reiji says before laughing to himself. "Hey, could one of you two get me down from here!?", Kurumu asks desperately as she looks down to her S class friends. "No.", Moka sternly replies while Reiji says, "Nah, you got it." "What?", Kurumu asks in confusion. "If you want to get down from there, you're gonna have to do it on your own.", Moka sternly explains, refusing to help her in the slightest. "Fine! I will! Maybe if I just pull harder.", Kurumu growls before she struggles some more. The three girls quickly tackle her, trying to keep her in the web, but she lets out her wings and spins rapidly, freeing herself from them and the webbing. "See, I didn't need your help after all.", Kurumu confidently says to the two monsters as she looks back to them. "You two cost me my prey, now you're gonna pay!", Kato shouts as she shoots her webbing at Reiji and Moka. She shoots multiple strings out of her wrists, wrapping around their wrists. "You two think you're hot shit, but your powers are nothing compared to Kuyo, the president of the Disciplinary Committee! And I'll show you that here and now!", Kato says in her fit of rage. Kato starts to tug on the webbing, but Reiji and Moka don't even budge. "Well this is, disappointing.", Reiji notes as he looks over at Moka. "Well, what would you expect from a bug?", Moka says with a grin on her face. "I-i'll show you... how weak... you two really are!", Kato says as she continues to struggle pulling on the webbing. Reiji and Moka look over at each other before looking back to Kato. They start reeling in Kato with her own webbing. "Hey, can't we talk about this? Stop it! Please! If you stop now, I won't report this to the Disciplinary Committee, I swear! I promise! What do you want? Do you want me to be your slave? I'll do it! Just let me go!", Kato begs as they continue to reel her in until she's right at their feet. As she lays at their feet she asks, "What do ya say?" Reiji places his heel right in the center of her spine and says, "I wonder how hard Moka has to kick you to break your spine." "Let's find out.", Moka adds as she pulls her leg back to kick her. "Now piss off!", Moka shouts as she kicks Kato into the air. As the spider girl goes flying through the air, Kurumu dive kicks her down into her own webbing while shouting, "That's for me!" As she flies into her own web, it wraps around her and her three servants, surrounding them in a giant ball of webbing as they go bouncing across the ground until they crash into a tree and stop. "Since you four like webs so much, you can spend the rest of your days in one.", Moka smugly replies as she dusts her uniform off. "Yeah, that'd be super. Thank you very much.", Kato replies in her daze before passing out.

They take a moment to make sure everyone is okay and Kurumu walks over to the incinerator, now smoldering with nothing more than ashes. She pulls out a half burned paper and just looks at it with a saddened look on her face. "I've made a decision!", Tsukune says, earning everyone's attention. They turn to him and he says, "I know it means going against Gin's wishes, but as the Newspaper Club, it's our duty to expose these guys for what they really are! You guys don't have to do this, but I am!" "You think we're just gonna let you do all that on your own?", Reiji asks jokingly. "Yeah, I'm behind you one hundred percent, Tsukune.", Moka adds. Yukari raises her wand into the air and says, "You can count on me too, Tsukune!" "You can add me to that list too.", Mizore says as she walks out from behind her tree. Tsukune looks down at the burnt paper in Kurumu's hands and says, "The Newspaper Club's main weapon is the power of the press, so let's show these creeps what we got!"


	14. Chapter 14: The Beginning of The End

It's after class and Tsukune and his friends are collecting evidence on the Disciplinary Committee's corruption. They watch as they extort money from other students, attack students they catch playing hooky, take bribes, and male members groping female students. They all return to their club room and show each other what evidence they've collected so far. Kurumu looks at the photos of the male members groping the female students in disgust and says, "These guys are a bunch of animals! Do we have enough evidence to put them six feet under yet!?" Tsukune looks through the pictures and says, "We've got a lot of good evidence here, but we still need some eye witnesses to back our claim. Did anybody get any witnesses?" Moka, Reiji, Kurumu, and Yukari all shake their heads no and Reiji says, "The girls in those photos refused to say anything about the incident. I even showed those girls these photos and they still claimed it didn't even happen." "Same here, nobody wants to tell on the Disciplinary Committee.", Yukari adds with a sigh. "Yeah, they're probably worried that the Committee will come for them if they say anything.", Moka suggests with a saddened look. Mizore pops out from under the table and says, "I think I found some eye witnesses." They all turn to her, surprised by her sudden appearance and Tsukune asks, "Really? Who?" "They're a club of weirdos who seem to be obsessed with Moka, Yukari and Kurumu. I stalked them until they agreed to be our witnesses.", Mizore explains, causing Yukari, Kurumu and Moka to sigh. "I guess those idiots are better than nothing. Let's go talk to them and get their statements before something happens to them.", Reiji suggests as he walks out the door to find the Trio of Weirdos.

They arrive at the club room for the Trio's clubs and Reiji kicks down the door. When they look inside, the room seems to have been torn apart with a single member left behind. Moka, Yukari, and Kurumu look around in horror at all the cardboard cutouts of them in the room and Yukari says, "I think they're more than just fan clubs." "I-it's you! Yukari Sendo, Kurumu Kurono, and Moka Akashiya! You three are our goddesses!", the last fan club member exclaims in amazement. Reiji looks around at the damage to the room and then to the bruises the student has before saying, "Let me guess, the Disciplinary Committee came and took our only witnesses away." The student gets really nervous and begins to sweat before saying, "I-i don't know anything about that! I just got here a second ago, I swear!" Reiji sighs and says, "Figured as much. These guys act quick. When they see a possible loose string, they cut it down without any hesitation." "I guess we're out of options now.", Kurumu says saddened by this outcome. "No, we'll keep looking in the morning! We have to find somebody, anybody! Even if it's just a single person, we need an eye witness to truly show the Disciplinary Committee's corruption!", Tsukune says with determination.

The next morning, Tsukune is walking to school with Reiji, who notices that Tsukune seems really tired. "Hey Tsukune, you alright?", Reiji asks him as he glances over to his friend. Tsukune yawns and says, "Yeah, I'm fine, just a little tired is all. I was up late last night trying to make a list of people who might be willing to testify against the Disciplinary Committee, it didn't work out too well." Moka suddenly joins them as she says, "Good morning!" Tsukune turns to her with a smile and says, "Good morning Moka, ready to get back to work today?" Moka nods her head and Reiji says, "Good morning. Sleep well last night Moka? You're just full of energy today, aren't you?" She nods again and says, "I knew I'd have to be ready to work hard today, so I made sure to get extra sleep last night and this morning. I slept so long that I didn't eVeN geT tO haVe breAkFAst.", Moka says slurring the last part as she starts to drool. She turns to Tsukune and says, "Can I just get a nibble this morning, Tsukune? Just one bite is all I ask." She starts to lean in to bite down on his neck, but gets kicked by Kurumu, sending her skidding across the ground. "Moka! You're gonna try to suck Tsukune's blood today of all days!? We need him in tip top shape to help gather evidence on the Disciplinary Committee! That means he needs as much of his blood as possible! You can just go eat a bagel or something for your breakfast!", Kurumu growls as Yukari and Mizore also show up. "Yeah, I agree with Kurumu. We need everyone at their best for this one Moka.", Yukari adds as she pats Kurumu on her lower back. "I'll get right on stalking possible witnesses after class today, okay Tsukune?", Mizore says to him. "Yeah, that sounds good. Let's hurry to class and after that we'll get right back on the case, alright?", Tsukune says as he looks to his friends. "Sounds good to me, now let's get going.", Reiji replies before they all hear Moka's stomach growl. They turn to Moka, who's face is almost completely red from embarrassment. Reiji sighs and pulls his bag off of his shoulder while saying, "Here, I got something that'll work for the moment." He rummages through his bag until he pulls out a granola bar. "A granola bar?", Moka asks as he tosses it to her. "Yeah, it's better than nothing so hurry up and eat if you're still hungry.", Reiji says as he zips up his bag and begins to walk to their first class of the day.

The whole group arrives at Miss Nekonome's room and take their usual seats. A few minutes pass before Miss Nekonome walks in and says, "Sorry I'm late, the teachers were arguing over some silly stuff in the break room and I had to calm them all down. Now let's get to class, alright?" Class goes on as it usually does on normal days: Miss Nekonome writes out the subject on the board, she asks the class what they already know about the subject, and then she goes on to do her lecture on the subject with as much detail as she needs depending on how well she thinks the whole class knows the subject of the day. But today isn't one of those days. As she begins to start her lecture, she hears someone about to open her door and says, "Come in!" The door swings open and they see four members of the Disciplinary Committee standing in the doorway, two guys with short black and grey hair and their normal Disciplinary Committee uniforms, a short girl with tied up red hair carrying a hammer, and a tall gentleman with long majestic blonde hair and piercing eyes. "Kuyo, what're you doing here?", Miss Nekonome asks with a worried look on her face. "Don't worry Nekonome, we won't be here long.", the blonde orders before walking into the class followed by the rest of the committee. He walks over to Tsukune's and Reiji's desks and says, "Well, you all are in the same class. That makes things so much easier for us." "What do you want blondey? Can't you see we're trying to have class here?", Reiji asks in a slightly irritated tone. "You'll shut your mouth if you know what's good for ya. That's Kuyo: President of the Disciplinary Committee you're talking to, punk.", the girl smugly orders as she points her hammer at Reiji's skull. "Deshko, I can handle this myself.", Kuyo sternly says as he turns to the girl and glares at her. She just puts her hammer back over her shoulders and says, "Sure thing boss. This one's all yours." "Moka Akashiya and Reiji Oni, you two are under arrest for the multiple fights you've caused across the campus on top of assaulting a member of the Disciplinary Committee without good reason.", Kuyo says as a grin comes across his face. "Well maybe if Kato wasn't so weak, she wouldn't have gotten her ass handed to her in less than two minutes.", Reiji mockingly replies, bored by what Kuyo just said. "Tsukune Aono, you're also under arrest.", Kuyo adds as he continues to grin. "What!? You can't do that! Tsukune didn't even fight anybody in those fights!", Moka shouts as she stands up from her seat. "Oh, it's not for the fights across the campus. We know that was mainly you two along with Kurumu Kurono and Mizore Shirayuki. We're arresting him under suspicion of being a human!", Kuyo replies with a cold glare. "A human!?", the whole class shouts in amazement. "How did they figure it out!?", Moka thinks to herself. Kurumu stands up from her seat while slamming her hand down on her desk before shouting, "That's impossible! Tsukune can't be a human! Humans can't even get into this school!" "Yeah, you ever hear about a cool thing called 'The Great Barrier' Kuyo? It kinda keeps non-monsters out.", Reiji says mockingly. "Enough! Reiji Oni, Moka Akashiya, Kurumu Kurono, and Mizore Shirayuki, you all are also under arrest for possibly helping him hide his identity as a human from all of us and betraying the school! Now come with us!", Kuyo shouts as he and the other male members pull out multiple pairs of handcuffs. Reiji stands up from his seat and asks, "Who said I'd be coming willingly? You really think the four of you can come close to me?" The seal on the back of his hand begins to glow and rotate before the guy with black hair throws something out of his sleeve at Reiji. It's a collar attached to a chain that clamps down on Reiji's neck and shocks him. He claws his desk in pain as he lets out a pain filled scream. "That looked like it hurt. Are you feeling more cooperative now ?", the guy with black hair asks. "Reiji!", Moka, Tsukune, Kurumu, and Mizore all shout in disbelief as Reiji begins to breath heavily. "K-kiss my ass, I'm not doing shi-", Reiji begins to say before he gets electrocuted again, causing him to scream again. "Stop this! We'll go, we'll go!", Tsukune shouts as he gets up from his seat. "Good to see someone has some common sense.", Kuyo says as he looks over at Tsukune. He cuffs Tsukune, then Moka, then Mizore, and then Kurumu. The guy hands Deshko the chain and says, "Here, you can walk their attack dog to our headquarters." She laughs and says, "Come along now, DOG!", as she tugs on the chain to pull Reiji along. Kuyo leads the group out the door and into the hallway in single file. Yukari sees them being taken away and tries to save them, but gets stopped by Gin, who covers her mouth and pulls her around the corner to hide. "Are you crazy!? You can't go against those guys by yourself! You'll get yourself killed!", Gin says as he looks down at her. She begins to cry as she watches her friends being taken away to who knows where and Gin says, "It's gonna be alright. Let's just hope they come back with just some bruises."

Tsukune's sitting in a dark room and thinks to himself, "It's dark in here, where'd everyone go?" A torch seems to light itself, revealing Kuyo standing at the top of some steps. "Do you know where we are Tsukune? We're in the Disciplinary Committee's headquarters, a shrine. This place is truly wonderful.", Kuyo says in a somewhat pleased tone. "W-what do you want from us Kuyo?", Tsukune asks nervously as he struggles trying to break free of his restraints that keep him in his chair. "Well, the truth of course. I want to know what exactly you are Tsukune.", Kuyo replies as he walks down the stairs to Tsukune. He places his hand on Tsukune's shoulder and says, "Now show me your monster form." Tsukune just looks down and says nothing for a minute before Kuyo takes his hand off of him and says, "I guess you need some incentive then. What if I told you people have been talking, a lot of people?" Kuyo snaps his fingers and an image appears on the wall in front of Tsukune. It's a video of Saizo in one of the committee's interrogation rooms. "So, what did you find odd about Tsukune Aono?", a voice asks off screen. "Well, he never tried to fight back. He didn't even threaten to turn into his monster form. He just took everything I threw at him all in his human form.", Saizo explains. Mister Kotsubo pops up on the screen in a similar looking room as Saizo and says, "He wasn't exactly the strongest student I've had in my class." Then it switches to Miss Ririko saying, "Well, he smelled so delicious. Is that weird to say about one's student? I think it might be a bit weird to say." Then it switches over to the Trio and the fat one says, "He was soooo weak." Then the taller one says, "Yeah, even we were able to beat him, us!" Then the normal looking one adds, "Yeah, there's definitely something off about that guy." Then it switches over to the swimming club overseer, who says, "Yeah, that one definitely smelled like a human. No doubt about it." "See, quite a bit of people think you might be a human, Tsukune. Why don't you prove them wrong and show me your human form, that way we can put all of this behind us and get back to doing what we love.", Kuyo says as he stops the videos with a snap of his fingers and turns to Tsukune. Tsukune still says nothing causing Kuyo to frown and say, "Look, even your friends are talking Tsukune." Kuyo snaps his fingers again and Kurumu pops up on the screen and the voice off screen says, "So you don't think one bit that Tsukune might be a human?" "Of course not! It's impossible for humans to get through the barrier, right? Tsukune's not a human!", Kurumu quickly replies, certain of Tsukune's innocence . "Then you've at least seen him in his monster form, right? Since you're such close friends and all.", the voice says to her, leaving her speechless. Kuyo snaps his fingers again and Mizore pops up on the screen and the voice asks, "So why do you think Tsukune hasn't shown you his monster form?" "He's just following the rules.", Mizore quickly replies. "Well, the rules also allow you to use your monster form to defend yourself, but still he hasn't used his monster form once in front of any of you. Why is that?", the voice says to her. "Well, that just means he's just really good at following the rules.", she replies nervously, as doubt starts to show through. Kuyo snaps his fingers yet again causing Reiji to pop up on the screen, chained to the interrogation table by the collar they've attached around his neck. "So, you've done your best to help protect Tsukune from the dangers all over this school, right?", the voice asks. "Yeah, he's my friend. That's what friends do.", Reiji sternly replies as he glares up at the guy. "Well then, since you're friends and all, wouldn't you've asked him at least once to show off his monster form. You used yours so many times in front of him, yet you weren't the least bit curious about his monster form?", the voice asks. "Oh shove it up your ass. I don't care about his monster form.", Reiji says before he gets shocked again. "Wrong answer!", Deshko shouts as Reiji digs his nails into the table. "I'm gonna kill all of you when I get this thing off.", Reiji growls as he tries to recover from the shock. "What did you say? More? Okay doggy.", Deshko happily says before shocking Reiji again, causing the boy to scream out in pain. Tsukune just grits his teeth and thinks, "These guys, they really are evil." Kuyo snaps his fingers again, causing the video to stop then turns to Tsukune and says, "See, even your friends are starting to doubt you Tsukune. Show me your monster form and reinvigorate their hope and trust in you!" Tsukune still says nothing. "I guess you just need that one last push. How about this?", Kuyo says sadistically before snapping his fingers again. Moka pops up on the screen and the voice says, "So you're a vampire, right?" Moka nods her head and the voice says, "And vampires just love the taste of blood, right? Especially human blood. So that would bring us to believe that Tsukune is, in fact, a human, since it's only his blood you drink and nobody else's." "No, that's not it at all! I drink Tsukune's blood because it's tasty, that doesn't make him a human!", Moka replies nervously. They hear the guy take a sip of water and they see a glass of water get placed on the table. Moka seems to look at the glass in fear. "That's right, vampires are weak to water, right? I wonder what'd happen if you kept lying to me like this, Moka.", the voice says in a more aggressive tone. "Please, don't do this!", Tsukune begs, but Kuyo only chuckles. "I'm not doing anything. This is all happening because you haven't revealed your monster form yet. Just show us your monster form and this can all stop with the snap of my fingers.", Kuyo replies with a slight grin aimed at the boy. Tsukune just looks down and grits his teeth, causing Kuyo's mood to sour. "Fine, DO IT!", Kuyo shouts causing the guy interrogating Moka to flick water at her! Moka screams out in pain as she gets shocked by the water touching her flesh! "Moka!", Tsukune shouts as he desperately tries to break free of his restraints. "You bastard! Stop this madness!", Tsukune shouts as he continues to struggle in his seat. "You think that's bad, look at these guys.", Kuyo says before a door opens up in the wall, revealing the Trio covered in cuts, bruises, and blood. "They stood in our way for just a second, just imagine what we're going to do to you and your little club if you don't fess up now, Tsukune. I might have to throw Moka into the pond if you don't show me here and now what you are!", Kuyo says as a sadistic grin comes across his face. Tsukune continues to struggle as Kuyo laughs and says, "Just turn into your monster form and bust free! You can do it! You have my permission! Even the simplest of slimes and weakest of lizardmen could bust out of those simple leather straps! Either bust free or tell me the truth Tsukune. ARE, YOU, HUMAN!?" Tsukune stops struggling and says, "Fine." Kuyo's ears perk up and he asks, "What was that?" "FINE! I'M A HUMAN, HAPPY!? NOW LET MY FRIENDS GO!", Tsukune shouts at him furiously. Kuyo just starts to laugh maniacally before asking, "Did you guys all hear that?" A confused look comes across Tsukune's face and Kuyo snaps his fingers, causing his friends all to show up behind him in their interrogation chairs. "This shrine allows us to move things all around and create illusions as we please! We can even hide in plain sight if we wish it!", Kuyo explains as members of the committee start to appear out of thin air. Kurumu and Mizore look at Tsukune in disbelief. "T-that can't be! You're lying, right Tsukune? Right!?", Kurumu says in complete desperation. "It can't be true. Tsukune's a-", Mizore begins to say before they hear Reiji getting electrocuted again. They turn to see him struggling to get the collar off. "Please don't struggle , we wouldn't want to see you get hurt now, would we?", Kuyo asks before turning to Deshko and nodding. She nods back and hits a button on the remote in her hand, causing the electricity shocking Reiji to turn from it's blue color to a dark red one. Reiji breaks the chain from the ground and stands up and continues to try to remove the collar through the pain. "Reiji stop! You're hurting yourself!", Mizore shouts as she gets up to stop him. "Turn it up higher! Higher I said!", Kuyo shouts as Deshko hits more buttons, turning the electricity into a dark black color and making it shock him constantly. Reiji's seal begins to glow and Reiji says, "I'm not your damn dog!", as he breaks the collar with his bare hands. The dark haired guy from before walks over to Kuyo and whispers, "That was our only collar sir, what do we do now?" Moka starts to cry and says, "Tsukune, you idiot, you shouldn't have said anything! No matter what they might've done to me, you should've just stayed quiet!" "You knew!?", Kurumu shouts furiously before walking over to her and slapping Moka across the face with all her strength, knocking her to the floor. Moka, still being shocked by the water in her clothes, just holds her reddened cheek with one hand and looks up to Kurumu with tears in her eyes. "Kurumu, I-", Tsukune begins to say as he looks over his shoulder to her before she shouts, "Just shut up! I don't want to hear another word from you!" Kuyo starts to laugh to himself again and says, "Well, now that we have that out of the way, I guess we can make a small deal, . You can leave, here and now, with Kurumu and Mizore and we'll drop the charges for the assaults you three have. What do you say?" Reiji turns away from Kuyo and says, "Fine by me. Just don't come fucking with the Newspaper Club or I'll rip you apart." He starts walking out with Kurumu and Mizore as Kuyo says, "As for you two, we hereby find you, Tsukune Aono, guilty of being a human, and you Moka Akashiya, guilty of harboring a human among us. We sentence you both to death!"

Reiji, Kurumu and Mizore all return to the Newspaper Club room to see Gin and Yukari waiting for them anxiously. "Hey, you're back! Where's Moka and Tsukune?", Yukari asks with excitement. "Gone.", Reiji sternly replies as he walks into the room. "Gone? They killed them!?", Yukari asks frantically. "No, not yet.", Reiji says as he goes to get himself a cigarette, but finds his box empty. He chucks the box across the room in frustration as Gin asks, "Then where are they?" "Well, since Tsukune's a human they're gonna kill him.", Kurumu says coldly as she comes into the room and sits down in a chair next to Yukari. "That makes sense. He was the only one out of all of us to be happy to be in the human world during summer break.", Yukari says as she thinks about it. "Yeah, that Tsukune was too much of a bumbling idiot to be a monster.", Gin says as he leans against the blackboard in the room. Mizore just turns and leaves without saying a word. Reiji grits his teeth and stands up before kicking the seat he was sitting in across the room, only spooking Yukari. "I'm leaving!", he shouts before walking out. "Well, overall that was a good move for you three to make. Now we have to patch things up with the Disciplinary Committee or go into hiding until the heat dies down.", Gin says as he walks to the door. He walks out without saying another word and shuts the door behind him. There's a minute of silence in the room as Yukari just looks around and sees that Reiji actually put a hole in the wall with the chair. "Yukari, what do you think of humans?", Kurumu asks her. "Humans, well, I guess they aren't all that bad. Long ago, witches were hunted down and burned alive by humans so we don't exactly get along, but I'm certain that there are some good humans out there somewhere.", Yukari explains as she sits down next to the succubus. Kurumu chuckles to herself and says, "When I was young, my mother told me that human men were just slaves to do Succubi's bidding, but I think I truly know now." Yukari smiles over at her and goes to say something, but gets cut off by the announcement bing. After the noise is over, they hear Kuyo's voice over the intercom say, "Fellow students, we have officially found Tsukune Aono guilty of being a human. For this crime, he'll be publicly executed today at 4:44 PM. If you wish to take pictures, please do bring your own cameras and turn the flash, off. Have a good day."

Near the front gate of the school, a crucifix has been setup over a bed of logs and flammable objects with Tsukune chained to the crucifix by his arms and legs. Kuyo stand next to him with a smile on his face as he looks out to the giant crowd of students that has formed in a matter of minutes after his announcement. They hear all kinds of students calling for Tsukune's death and begging for him to burn, but then they hear a single student say, "I know he's a human, but isn't a public execution a bit too harsh?" Another student responds saying, "Yeah, maybe the Disciplinary Committee went a bit too far this time. I went to a public middle school in the human world and they weren't too bad." "Yeah, these guys are going mad with powe-", the first student begins to say before Deshko knocks them both out with her hammer and drags them off.

In the teacher lounge, Miss Nekonome watches from her desk in horror. "Isn't this academy's purpose to promote a peaceful existence with humans? Why are we executing one right in our front courtyard!? This just isn't right! I have to stop this barbarism!", she says as she stands from her desk. "Nekonome!", Miss Ririko shouts from the doorway causing her to jump. "Yes?", Miss Nekonome asks nervously. "Our Headmaster would like a word with you, it sounds urgent so please hurry.", Miss Ririko explains as she walks into the room and points to the door. She reluctantly drops everything and heads to the Headmaster's office.

Back in the Newspaper Club room, Yukari and Kurumu are both shocked by the announcement. "Kurumu, we have to do something! If we don't, Tsukune will...", Yukari begins to say as tears well up in her eyes. Kurumu begins to cry while shouting, "Idiots! Why didn't they tell us anything!? I thought we were friends! What kind of person doesn't tell their friends about something like that!? If we had known that Tsukune was human, we wouldn't have let that guy get anywhere near him! IDIOTS!"

As Tsukune looks down at a crowd of students from up upon a crucifix, he just hangs there before looking over to Kuyo and asking, "Can you promise me something, Kuyo?" Kuyo gives him a curious look and says, "A dying wish? Fine, what is it that you want, human?" "After I die, please don't hurt my friends.", Tsukune says with a smile. "Even on death's doorstep, you're thinking of your 'friends?' Fine, I will do my best.", Kuyo says as he turns back to the crowd. Tsukune lets out a sigh of relief before seeing a grin come across Kuyo's face. "Reiji might be a problem, but as for the others, I'll make their deaths as painless as possible.", Kuyo says sadistically with his evil grin across his face. "No! You leave them out of this Kuyo, you bastard!", Tsukune shouts in his fury as Kuyo continues to laugh maniacally. Moka, who's trapped in a cell underneath the ground they're performing the execution on, hears all of this through a grate and says, "No! Tsukune!", as she begins to cry and shake the bars violently trying to escape, but to no avail.


	15. Chapter 15: Discipline the Committee

After leaving the club room, Reiji finds himself walking alone down a dirt road lined with tombstones as he ponders his next move. He looks down at his seal and remembers the shocks he felt from the collar as he thinks, "That collar, it sapped some of my power away. It's not permanent, but it's gonna be a hassle doing this all by myself." He feels a sudden shift in the wind, the temperature suddenly drops and he can see his breath as he lets out a sigh. "I guess she's nearby. Does this all really matter that much to her?", Reiji says with a slightly saddened look as he continues forward. As he continues on his path, he sees things slowly starting to freeze: trees, plants, the ground, even some of the bats are frozen solid. He finally reaches the cliff where he took Mizore all those weeks ago, and sees her sitting at the ledge in fetal position with her hair turned to ice like it was back then. "It's really true, isn't it?", Mizore asks, not turning to see him, but still knowing he's there. "What, Tsukune being human?", Reiji asks as he starts walking towards her. She just nods and he says, "Yeah, he's human, but that doesn't change anything." "Doesn't change anything? He kept that secret from us!", Mizore says with tears in her eyes. "He probably kept it from you guys so you wouldn't be in any danger. Knowing that kind of stuff could get you where Moka is now.", Reiji replies as he sits down at the edge with Mizore. "You guys? So you knew this whole time and said nothing!?", she asks furiously. Reiji simply smiles softly as he looks off at the ocean and says, "It wasn't my secret to tell. If Tsukune felt okay with letting you all know he would've told you." He turns to see her crying into her knees. "Honestly, he didn't really tell me, rather, he kind of let it slip while I was hiding nearby and just so happened to hear it.", Reiji says trying to make her feel better, but to no avail. She continues to cry and his smile turns into a slight frown. "You know, none of this should change anything.", Reiji says as he looks back to the ocean. She lifts her head up from her knees and asks, "W-what do you mean?" "Tsukune might be a human, but that doesn't change who he is or how any of you truly feel for him, right? Tsukune is my friend, human or not. And I'll protect him with everything I have left, that's that.", Reiji replies as his smile returns to his face. He looks back over to her and sees her staring at the ocean in deep thought. "You still love him, right?", he asks nervously. A slight smile comes across her face as she says, "Yeah, I guess I do." "Well, we can't just leave him to die now, can we?", Reiji says as he stands up. "But, even with the two of us, we can't stand up against the full force of the Disciplinary Committee.", Mizore says as she continues to look off at the ocean. "Well, then we'll need more monster power then.", they hear a voice say from out of nowhere. They turn to find its source to be a crow that flies down and lands in between them. "A crow? Who are you?", Mizore asks it before the crow begins to transform and they see who it really is.

Kurumu and Yukari are sitting on a bench in the forest near the pond, throwing rocks into the pond. "You know, we have to something to save Tsukune.", Yukari says to Kurumu as she tosses a pebble into the pond. "But, he's a human, right?", Kurumu says weakly as she tosses a pebble into the pond too. "Well, that doesn't really matter, does it?", Yukari says as she looks over to Kurumu. Kurumu gives her a confused look and Yukari says, "It doesn't matter to me at least that Tsukune's a human. It bugs me a bit that they didn't tell us about it, but I don't mind it that much. Even if he's a human, he was the first person at this school to really be nice to me, you know? So that's why, I have to help him! I can't just leave Tsukune to die like this!" Kurumu just chuckles to herself and says, "What do you know, you're just a dumb kid. Tsukune's a human and that's against the rules, but still...", Kurumu says as she looks down at the pond. "You want to help him too, right Kurumu?", Yukari asks her with a smile. Kurumu turns to her and says, "B-but we can't! We don't stand a chance against the entire Disciplinary Committee!" They suddenly hear a familiar voice say, "Not on your own at least." They see a crow fly down from one of the trees and Kurumu says, "A crow? What's it doing all by itself?" The crow begins to transform as it says, "Why don't we go join the others? We have a plan." They see who the crow really is and nod their heads in unison.

Moka is sitting in her cell, curled up in a ball in the corner. "I'm sorry Tsukune. I can't do it. I can't help you this time.", Moka says as she cries to herself. "You're just giving up that easy?", Inner Moka asks her. "B-but I can't do anything without you. With this seal on I'm useless.", Outer Moka says as she continues to cry. "Stop crying!", Inner Moka shouts. Outer Moka wipes away her tears and says, "B-but I'm useless. I can't even get through some simple bars. Reiji and the others would've gotten out in just less than a minute, but here I am, stuck in here like the damsel I am." She hears a familiar voice say, "Damn, starting to sulk already? So much for vampires and their overwhelming pride." She rushes to the bars and sees Reiji walking through the hallway with his hands in his pockets. "Reiji!? How did you find me here!?", Moka asks in disbelief. "I didn't, she did.", Reiji replies as he points to a crow that flies in from the other way of the hallway. "Good to see you again, Moka.", the crow says before it begins to transform and bend the bars to form a hole big enough to let Moka escape through with magic. "R-Ruby!?", Moka says in disbelief. "Yeah, Ruby's back apparently.", Reiji says with a smile. Moka quickly leaps out from her cell and hugs both Ruby and Reiji while saying, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Ruby laughs it off and says, "Hey, we're not the only one's you should be thanking.", as she points down the way that Reiji came from. She turns and sees Kurumu, Mizore and Yukari walking towards them. "Man, that guard really took a beating.", Mizore sighs. "Not tough enough to beat the three of us though.", Yukari replies with a smile. "Yukari, Mizore, Kurumu?", Moka asks in disbelief. Mizore and Yukari stop as soon as they reach Reiji's side, but Kurumu just continues past him and heads straight for Moka. She pulls her hand back and slaps Moka as hard as she can without any warning. As Moka holds her face, wondering what just happened, Kurumu shouts, "What are you doing just standing around!? We have to go save Tsukune! If we don't, they're gonna kill him! I haven't forgiven you for keeping such a big secret from all of us, but we have more pressing issues to deal with." "You're right. Let's get moving.", Ruby says before they all notice her new wand. "Ruby, your wand! You got a new wand!", Yukari says in amazement. Ruby holds the wand close and blushes before saying, "It's a long story, one that can wait. We need to hurry!" They all rush back through the hallway to go save Tsukune.

Outside at Tsukune's execution, Kuyo watches the clock patiently. "Just a little longer now Tsukune, then you'll burn for your crime.", Kuyo says with a smile. He watches as the arms on the large clock he has nearby hits four forty four and shouts, "It is time!" As he lights a ball of fire in his hand, he turns to Tsukune and says, "Any last words before you burn alive, human?" Before Tsukune can say anything, Kuyo says, "Too late, now burn you worm!" He ignites the wood below Tsukune, which slowly begins to burn his feet until the fire is suddenly frozen solid. Kuyo turns and catches a rock that was chucked straight at his face without even flinching. "Really, a rock? That's the best you can do?", Kuyo asks before watching the crowd split and Reiji, Moka, Yukari, and Mizore rushing towards him. He jumps down to confront them and Kurumu and Ruby use this time to Tsukune and fly him up into the air. "Ah, so it was a diversion to bait me into leaving Tsukune unattended, very clever.", Kuyo says with an irritated look on his face. "You all know you're committing a crime against the school by doing this, correct? No matter what you do, you all will be expelled from this school!", Kuyo shouts at them. "We don't give a damn about the school!", Reiji says with a grin across his face. "Yeah, all that matters right now is Tsukune.", Mizore adds. "Because he's our friend and nothing will ever change that!", Moka shouts. "Yeah, that and your corrupt committee needs to be taken care of!", Yukari adds. Kuyo begins to laugh to himself and says, "That's almost exactly what Gin said last year when he tried to 'expose' us for what we really were! You know what happened to the rest of his little Newspaper Club? We got rid of every last one of them! He believed that the truth mattered more than this school. I thought he would've learned from that first time, but I guess you can't teach old dogs new tricks." The three Disciplinary Committee members block their path to Kuyo and he says, "For your crimes against this school, we sentence you to death!" And with a snap of his fingers, the three committee members transform into their monster forms: a golem, a mummy, and a jiang-shi. Reiji punches the mummy in the face, launching him across the ground while saying, "You clowns really think you'll stand a chance against me? What a joke!" Kuyo looks up and watches a Kurumu and Ruby carry Tsukune away before he says, "You think you can evade me that easily? You can run all you like, I'll catch you eventually and execute you, Tsukune Aono." He starts to levitate and slowly chase after them before Reiji notices him leaving and shouts, "You three go give them some backup! I'll handle these clowns!" "You dare call me a clown!? I'll put you in your place, dog!", the Jiang-Shi shouts before she tries to swipe down at him with her claws. He dodges under her attack and sees up her dress as he kicks her in the stomach, launching her across the ground until she regains her footing and stops herself with her hands and feet. "Reiji!?", Moka, Mizore and Yukari shout. "I'll be fine! Go take care of Tsukune!", Reiji shouts as he transforms into his S class form. "An S class monster?", the crowd says in amazement. "He's going to fight the Disciplinary Committee all on his own? He must be really strong!", someone says in the crowd. The girls all rush towards the school as the golem and Jiang-Shi regroup. They start to whisper to each other and Reiji just laughs before rushing them down.

On the nearby school rooftop, Kurumu and Ruby land and gently let Tsukune down. He turns to them with a smile and says, "Ruby, Kurumu, thank you. You both saved me." Before they can say anything back to him, Moka, Mizore and Yukari bust through the nearby exit to the rooftop. Moka rushes over to him and gives him a big hug before saying, "Tsukune! I thought I was going to lose you for sure!" He chuckles to himself and says, "I really thought I was a goner back there." They all hear Kuyo say, "Now you're a goner up here." and Tsukune suddenly has a spear of fire sticking through his chest before he bursts into flames. The flames only last a moment, but it's enough to severely burn his entire body. He falls to the ground in Moka's arms as all of the girls and Tsukune are left in shock. "Well, the other students might have missed it, but at least the execution was carried out.", Kuyo says sadistically with a grin across his face. "M-moka.", Tsukune manages to say in a weakened voice. She looks down at him with tears in her eyes as he says, "No matter what happens, if I die here and now or by some miracle I manage to survive, I have no regrets. It's because I came to this place that I met you and Reiji and everyone else. I don't regret that one bit. Not at all..." "W-what are you saying Tsukune!? Stop it!", Moka shouts with tears in her eyes. "G-goodbye... Moka. Goodbye... my friends...", Tsukune says as he reaches out to touch her face and wipe away her tears. As his body goes limp, he accidentally removes her rosary seal. "Tsukune? Tsukune!?", Moka says nervously before shaking him, trying to wake him up, but to no avail. "NO!", she shouts out as she transforms into her inner self. "My my, why are you getting so worked up over just a pet?", Kuyo asks smugly. "KUYO, I'M GONNA KILL YOU!", Moka shouts before kicking him so hard he goes flying through a nearby rooftop. Mizore, Kurumu, Ruby and Yukari all rush over to Tsukune's side and are in complete horror as they look at his burnt body. Moka walks over to Tsukune's body and pushes the other girls out of her way before kneeling down to check on him herself. "He's still alive, but barely.", Moka says causing Kurumu and Yukari to shed tears of joy. "So what do we do? Yukari, can you use your magic to heal him?", Kurumu nervously asks, but the witch only shakes her head no. "No, these wounds are too sever to be healed by magic alone. The only way he'll survive through this is if I give him some of my blood.", Moka says as she lifts his body up a bit and looks at his neck. "Does that human really mean that much to you?", Kuyo asks her with a cocky grin on his face. They turn to see him in his monster form, a four tailed fox that controls fire. "He's an S class monster too!?", Yukari asks, left in complete disbelief. "If you like that human so much, why don't you join him in the afterlife?!", Kuyo shouts before launching a giant fire blast at them. "Mizore!", Kurumu shouts to her, but Mizore says, "It's too strong, I can't block it with an ice wall!" They close their eyes and prepare for the impact, but something seems to take the hit for them. As they open their eyes, they see Gin standing there in his Werewolf form covered in burns. "You guys are real idiots for not just dodging such a simple attack. But I guess I'm a bigger idiot for jumping in front of it, right?", he says before passing out from the pain. "I can't believe he actually acted like a club president for once.", Kurumu says in disbelief. Kuyo laughs and says, "Well that just saves me the trouble of hunting him down later, now back to my real targets." He starts to charge another fire blast, but suddenly gets tackled by one of Reiji's giant hellhounds. "What!? Where did this-", Kuyo begins to think before Reiji shows up in his SS class form and sideswipes him with a full power punch to the face. "Reiji!", the girls all shout in disbelief. "What happened? Why does Tsukune look like beef jerky?", Reiji asks as he glances over at Tsukune. "Kuyo burned Tsukune nearly to death and now the only way to save him is to give him some of my blood.", Moka explains before she prepares to bite down into Tsukune's neck. "Fine, I'll help you guys stall for time as long as I can.", Reiji replies as his hellhound moves to his side. "Stall? Why don't you just beat him to a pulp and get it over already?", Yukari asks. "Because we sapped away a good bit of his monster energy earlier.", Kuyo says as he leaps in to attack Reiji with his fangs. Reiji dodges the attack as Kuyo says, "That collar was meant to take the wearer's monster energy and electrocute them with it. That's why it was able to hurt him so easily, because it was equal to his power in this very form. He probably can't even hold that form for much longer." Reiji grits his teeth before shouting, "Mizore, you're on defense! Kurumu and I will take offense! Everyone else just take the back seats!" Reiji rushes in to attack, but gets blasted with fire. He ignores the pain and attacks through the fire, punching Kuyo into the air where Kurumu kicks him back down to the ground. Mizore forms multiple layers of ice walls to protect Moka and the others in the back seats while Ruby and Yukari take this time to start casting a duet spell. Reiji and his hellhound attack Kuyo at the same time from different directions and Kuyo leaps into the air to dodge, but gets caught by a smaller hellhound that Reiji made from his monster energy and some ash. The smaller hellhound bites down into Kuyo's neck and he can feel his power being drained from his body. "Alright, it's ready!", Yukari exclaims to Reiji and the others. "Let's do this!", Ruby adds as tarot cards suddenly surround Kuyo. Kuyo laughs and says, "It'll take more than simple playing cards to stop me!", before releasing a burst of flames, burning the cards to ash. The ashes suddenly turn into raven familiars that also surround Kuyo, making Kuyo say, "This is an interesting parlor trick, but I'm already sick of it." He burns the familiars to ash as well before laughing to himself. "We're not done yet Kuyo!", Ruby shouts as she and Yukari hold their wands into the air, causing the ash to all go up into the air and form an enormous raven familiar that dive bombs Kuyo, stabbing him right in his right eye. Kuyo holds his right eye as he screams out in pain before saying, "To think, such weaklings were able to scratch me!" Kuyo begins to transform into a more human looking form and Yukari shouts, "Look, it's working! He's turning back into his human form!" "No, his monster energy's still rising like crazy. This isn't his human form it's...", Reiji begins to say before Kuyo says, "My ultimate form!" As his transformation ends, his tails have turned a bright blue color and he's now standing on his hind legs rather than on all fours. "You all should be honored, not many get to see me in this form.", Kuyo says smugly. His whole body turns a pure white color as a series of markings appear across his body like tattoos. Reiji begins to laugh and says, "Well I didn't anticipate you to have a second form too. I guess you're just full of surprises Kuyo." Kuyo's tails begin to swirl and he says, "And I'm going to show you just how much stronger mine is compared to yours!" With a flick of his tails, four large balls of blue fire go flying all over the place! One hits Kurumu head on, knocking her to the ground and burning her wings, another hits Mizore's ice wall, melting it instantly and knocking her, Ruby and Yukari on their asses, and the last two hit Reiji head on, engulfing him in a giant explosion of fire! Kuyo begins to laugh maniacally before saying, "This is it!? This is the power of the undying demon from the Underworld!? Pathetic!" The girls all watch as the flames begin to grow as Kuyo continues to laugh, but then a sudden surge of monster energy blows the flames out and they see Reiji still standing there not even phased by the attack. "Is that the best you can do, Kuyo?", Reiji asks with a grin on his face. The girls begin to get back to their feet as Kuyo says, "Oh no, I have way more where that came from, Reiji." Moka stops injecting her blood into Tsukune and gently lays him down on the ground before saying, "Good, you'll need it to beat all of us at once!" "Moka! Will Tsukune be alright? Is he gonna make it!?", Kurumu asks frantically. Moka looks over to her with a saddened look and says, "It's out of my hands. It's all up to chance now." Kurumu extends her nails and turns to Kuyo before she shouts, "You did this! If he dies, I'll..." Kuyo laughs and says, "You'll what, kill me? None of you are even close to the level I'm at right now!" Moka scoffs at his claim and says, "We'll just kick your ass from here to kingdom come just like we have every other obstacle in our way!" She rushes at him and begins to kick wildly at him, but he just blocks each attack with his forearms and says, "My my, this is the strength of the supposed 'strongest monster?' It's quite underwhelming." He goes to elbow her in the face, but she's pulled away by a smaller hellhound. Kuyo looks to Reiji and sees that his once large hellhound has been broken down into multiple smaller hellhounds. "So you don't have enough monster energy left to keep the bigger one going so you just made it into smaller ones? That's pretty clever, but it won't matter in the end!", Kuyo says as he begins to launch small blue fireballs at the hellhounds and everyone else. They manage to dodge his attacks, but Kuyo notices that Mizore is the slowest out of the bunch at dodging his flaming attacks, so he launches multiple fireballs at her wildly. Mizore thinks, "There's no way, I can't dodge all of those!", as she sees them flying towards her. She closes her eyes and braces herself for the worst, but as she hears the explosions she doesn't feel anything. She opens her eyes to see Reiji standing in front of her, slowly regenerating after that attack. "Reiji, why did you...", Mizore begins to ask before Reiji turns to her and says, "Don't worry about it. I saw you were left open so I covered your back." "I can't take another hit like that though, my monster energy's running low and I can't access the next seal. I couldn't just let her take that hit though, right?", Reiji thinks to himself as he watches Yukari, Ruby, Kurumu and Moka working together to try to fight Kuyo. A fireball is about to hit Yukari, but a hellhound jumps in the way and takes the hit for her and gets turned back into ash. Slowly, the hellhounds all get defeated as they sacrifice themselves to help the girls avoid taking dangerous hits. "These hellhounds are so annoying, they just keep getting in the way. But now at least they're all gone.", Kuyo says smugly as the girls retreat and begin to breath heavily from how much work they've put into hitting him. "No matter how hard I hit him, he doesn't seem to be taking any real damage.", Moka says as she catches her breath. "Same here, did we really lose that much monster energy?", Reiji says as he walks over to them. "Well, my attack don't even touch him since he's always on fire like that.", Mizore says as she also walks over to them. Kuyo begins to laugh again and says, "I'm growing bored of this. I think I'll end you all here and now!", before he begins to float into the air. "What the hell is he-", Moka begins to ask before Kuyo lifts his hand up to the sun and shouts, "This is my ultimate attack! Feel it in its full glory, worms!" Blue flames begin to swirl in his hand and form a ball that continues to grow to an unimaginable size! The ball grows until it reaches a size that completely blocks out the sun and Kuyo shouts, "Now die! Solar Destruction!" He goes to throw the ball of flames down at them, but suddenly coughs up blood as he reels back in pain, almost as if he were kneed in the stomach. "What the hell was-", Kuyo begins to ask before he's suddenly launched face first into the ground with incredible force! His attack dissipates and as he hits the roof he creates a crater from the impact. "Who dares to-", Kuyo begins to ask before someone punches him so hard in the face that he's sent tumbling across the ground. When he looks to see who it was that hit him, he sees a shirtless Tsukune with vampire eyes and fangs walking towards him, menacingly. "Tsukune!?", Moka and the other girls ask in disbelief. Tsukune says nothing and Kuyo gets to his feet before saying, "This is impossible! You should be dead, DEAD! I burned you to a crisp myself!" He goes to back away from him, as Tsukune is getting too close for his comfort, but finds himself grabbed and held in place by Gin in his Werewolf form. "What!? You too!?", Kuyo asks in disbelief. "Werewolves are known for more than our speed you know. We also have decent healing powers.", Gin says as he tightens his hold on Kuyo. Tsukune pulls his fist back and with one strong punch, sends both Gin and Kuyo hurdling through the roof into the room below.

Kurumu, Mizore, and Yukari all run over to Tsukune shouting, "Tsukune!", but as they get closer to him, he lashes out at them and strikes the ground, shattering it with a single punch. "Tsukune, what are you-", Kurumu begins to ask before Tsukune leaps at them, ready to attack again. Tsukune suddenly stops as a cross is pressed against his forehead. They all see a man in white robes and hood standing before them, holding a rosary similar to Moka's against Tsukune's forehead. "H-headmaster?", Ruby says in confusion. "Do not worry, Ruby. This is easily fixed.", he says in an eerie tone. "Headmaster, what happened to Tsukune?", Yukari asks him. "Isn't it obvious? Moka's blood was too strong for Tsukune's human body to handle, and now it's running out of control.", he explains to them. "Wait, you know that he's really a human?", Reiji asks as he transforms back into his human form. The Headmaster nods and says, "None of that matters now. What really matters is making sure that the school remains safe from harm."He motions for Moka to come closer and she does. "Hold this against his forehead while I grab something.", he says to her as he uses his free hand to place her hand on the rosary keeping Tsukune tame. "W-what are you-", Moka begins to ask as he begins to rummage through his robe pockets. He pulls out a golden chain with a single lock on it and says, "This is a holy lock. It'll keep the vampire blood inside of him under control. It will be like his lifeline and keep him sane." He begins to wrap the chain around Tsukune's right wrist and up his forearm as Reiji asks, "Now what? We exposed the committee for what it really was, now what do we do?" "Well, I guess you all should prepare yourselves for what's coming. There's a wave of students behind that door waiting to come out here and see how this has all ended. I have the door locked now, but I don't know how much longer it'll hold.", the Headmaster says as he points to the stairs exit for the roof. He locks the lock and pulls on the chain to see if it's too loose, but it seems to be on there just right. "There, now he should be back to his normal self in no time.", the Headmaster says before taking a hold of his rosary. Moka lets go of it and he takes it off of Tsukune's forehead, causing him to revert back to his normal self and say, "What the? Moka? Headmaster? What happened?" Moka playfully flicks his forehead and says, "Welcome back to the land of the living, sleepy-head." The Headmaster picks up the rosary seal that fell on the ground after Tsukune released it and tosses it to Tsukune while saying, "You might need this Mister Aono." He manages to catch it with one hand and Moka just smiles and takes it from his hand before sealing herself away again and falling into his arms. Reiji looks down in the hole that Tsukune made and sees Kuyo's unconscious body crushing Gin who's saying, "Hey, anybody wanna give me a hand down here? Anybody?" Reiji looks over to Mizore and the other girls who are all shaking their heads no and he says, "Sorry Gin, that's a no from me. You can handle it down there, right?", before walking back over to the others. The door busts off its hinges and a sea of students comes pouring through to the roof. They see Tsukune holding Moka in his arms without his shirt on, then the hole in the roof and Kuyo's body in that hole before they all begin to cheer for Tsukune. Miss Nekonome makes her way through the crowd and sees that the Headmaster is already on the scene. "Oh, so you didn't want me to take any action because you were going to do so yourself, is that it, Headmaster?", she asks him, but gets no response. "This is amazing! No human could've beat Kuyo so badly!", someone in the crowd shouts causing the Headmaster to grin. "Yes, with this defeat, I hereby lift all charges the Disciplinary Committee have placed on Tsukune and his friends and will be dissolving the committee at once.", the Headmaster proclaims with a smile. As the crowd begins to freely talk about how they really feel about Kuyo and the committee, Reiji laughs and says, "I guess this all worked out in the end." "Tsukune Aono's our hero!", the crowd shouts as the grab him and lift him into the air.

As the praise dies down and the students begin to leave, the Newspaper Club goes to the Nurse's Office to treat their wounds. Reiji and Mizore are all left in the Infirmary for a day after the incident and Moka is left there for almost a whole week because of how hard she pushed herself. During the time they're in the Infirmary, Kurumu and Yukari tell Tsukune what had happened while he was passed out and how he beat Kuyo to a bloody pulp. He doesn't remember any of it, but is grateful for all of their help, especially Moka's. He goes out and waits patiently by Moka's bedside with a bouquet of red roses until she wakes up. As she begins to wake up, a smile comes across his face as he says, "Moka? Moka, can you hear me?" "Tsukune? Where am I?", Moka asks as she opens her eyes and tries to look around. As she rubs her eyes, Tsukune says, "You're in the Infirmary, after your battle with Kuyo everyone came here to get patched up. Mizore and Reiji were both here for a few days until they felt better." "A few days? How long have I been asleep?", Moka asks with a worried look. "It's been a week, but it seems you've made a full recovery.", Tsukune says happily to her with his smile causing her to blush. "Moka, I got you these.", Tsukune says as he hands her the bouquet of roses. As she blushes, he says, "Thank you for everything. You used so much of your power just to save me, even going as far as to give me some of your blood, thank you, Moka." She blushes some more and says, "As long as you come out of it alive in the end, I don't really mind how much of my power I have to use to save you Tsukune." He begins to cry after hearing this and she giggles before flicking him on the forehead while saying, "Please don't cry, you should be happy." For a moment he sees the inner Moka in her place as she smiles at him and his heart begins to race like no tomorrow. "What? Did I just see... Could it be...", Tsukune begins to think as he swallows some spit that's built up in his mouth. Moka's face turns completely red and she says, "When you look at me like that, Tsukune, it make me want to kiss you." His face turns red too and he nervously begin to lean in as she begins to sit up so they can kiss, but before their lips can touch, the door gets kicked down and they both turn to see Reiji with a lit cigarette in his mouth and the other girls with him. "I knew you'd be here, Tsukune!", Kurumu shouts as she rushes into the room. "Look, I knew you two were up to naughty things!", Yukari says playfully as she gets a nosebleed at the thought of Moka and Tsukune together. "I didn't expect Moka to try to take advantage of Tsukune during a time like this.", Mizore says coldly as the she walks into the room with Yukari, Reiji and Ruby. "Hey guys, I just woke up a minute ago. How's everyone been?", Moka says through her embarrassment. Kurumu grabs Tsukune by his arm and says, "What exactly were we interrupting, Tsukune? You weren't planning on doing something with Moka that you wouldn't do with us, were you?" He shakes his head no and nervously says, "What!? Of course not! Nothing was happening, I swear Kurumu!" She smiles and says, "Good, then you wouldn't mind giving me a kiss, right?" "A-a kiss!?", Tsukune asks nervously. "Yeah, me too! Kiss me too, Tsukune!", Yukari begs as she and Kurumu pucker up for a kiss. "How about a kiss for your little snow bunny?", Mizore asks as she takes out her lollipop and puckers up too. "Please give me one too, Tsukune!", Ruby begs as she also puckers up for a kiss. "All four of you!?", Tsukune asks as he looks at the four of them nervously. Moka pulls him into her bed and shouts, "No, just kiss me, Tsukune!" Reiji pulls Tsukune out of her clutches before she can kiss him and Tsukune looks up at him, expecting the worst. "Tsukune, don't give me that look. I'm not part of your damn harem.", Reiji says as he slaps Tsukune across the back of his head. "As for you guys, you can kiss Tsukune another time. We have classes to get to.", Reiji says as he flicks the last of his cigarette out the open window. Tsukune just laughs and says, "Yeah, let's hurry. We don't want to be late to Miss Ririko's class again, right?", before following close behind Reiji. All the girls get disappointed looks on their faces and reluctantly follow them through the door and out into the hallway. "That's right, we might've beat the Disciplinary Committee, but we still have the rest of the semester to go. I hope nothing bad happens between now and then.", Tsukune thinks to himself as he walks through the hallway with his friends.


	16. Chapter 16: The Student Council

It's another day at Yokai Academy for Tsukune and his friends, and both Reiji and Tsukune have been called to the Headmaster's office for a brief meeting. As they make their way there, Tsukune asks Reiji, "What do you think the Headmaster wants us for? Do you think it has something to do with the damage we did to the school when we fought Kuyo?" Reiji sighs and says, "Who knows, this guy does so much thinking in his free time he probably anticipated us to do all that. He probably wants us to solve another problem at this school, knowing how fucked up this place is and all." As they walk into the Headmaster's office, he motions for them to come and sit down in the seats in front of his desk. "What is that you wanted from us Headmaster? Need somebody else to enforce rules around the school after that little incident with the Disciplinary Committee?", Reiji asks him sarcastically "I have a job for you two. It involves the festival coming up later this month.", the Headmaster replies with a grin on his face. "A job? What kind of job?", Tsukune asks him. "Well, to put it bluntly, I need you two to join the Festival Committee and help make sure everything works out smoothly.", the old man replies as he hands Reiji a small map showing them where they need to go. Reiji laughs and asks, "Why would we want to do that? We're already busy as is with the Newspaper Club." The Headmaster chuckles at this and says, "Feel free to refuse, the only consequence will be that you and all your friends will be expelled from Yokai for the damage you all caused to the school." The Headmaster turns to Tsukune and says, "It's just the Festival Committee, they're just a little understaffed and need some help is all. And it's your best option considering..well, you know." Tsukune thinks for a minute before saying, "We'll do it, just don't expel anybody, okay?" Reiji looks down at the map in his hands and says, "Fine, I'll join your little plan, but you better not be planning anything too crazy, Headmaster." "You two better hurry then, your first meeting starts soon. Good luck, you'll need it.", the Headmaster replies as he spins around in his chair to face away from them, looking out his giant windows to the rest of the campus with an evil grin on his face.

The boys do as the Headmaster asked of them and start heading out to the location on the map. As they walk, they eventually come across a building off campus with two signs, one says "Student Council" and the other says, "Festival Committee" "This looks like the place, Tsukune.", Reiji says as he puts the map in his pocket. Tsukune sighs and says, "We haven't even went inside yet and I already have a bad feeling about all this." They suddenly hear a male voice say, "You two must be the new First Year reps, right?" They turn to see a much taller student wearing an all black uniform, like the Disciplinary Committee's, towering over them. He looks down at Tsukune and asks, "You're the first year's Student President, Tsukune Aono, right?" Tsukune nods nervously and the man smiles down at him and says, "It's great to have you on board, the teachers are always praising your actions." He then looks over at Reiji, who's less than impressed by the student's height or knowledge, and says, "Then you must be Reiji Oni, the Vice President. It's great to have you on board too. I've heard a lot about your physical capabilities."

Back with the girls in the Newspaper Club room, they're just now getting the news about Tsukune and Reiji joining the Festival Committee. "Festival Committee!? What's up with that?! Why do they have to run off at a time like this!? Just when our news workload starts going through the roof too! Of all the times!", Kurumu shouts in frustration as she slams the note down on her desk. "It's the Headmaster's orders. And if they refused, we all would've been expelled for what we did to the school when we fought Kuyo.", Moka explains, causing Kurumu's glare to calm a bit. "Besides, Tsukune's been having a rough time lately, having to fight off that crazy vampire blood in his veins and all. Maybe this will help him take his mind off almost dying.", Yukari adds as she types on her laptop. "I have a bad feeling though, like something big is about to happen and change everything.", Moka notes with a worried look. Kurumu rushes over to the door while saying, "Well, I'm not gonna let go of Tsukune that easy." "Where are you going!? Kurumu!?", Yukari shouts as she chases after her. Kurumu starts heading down the hallway as she says, "I'm gonna talk to the Headmaster and get Tsukune back. That Festival Committee can keep Reiji and we'll just watch over Tsukune ourselves." They all hear Ruby say from out of nowhere, "I'm sorry, but that won't be possible since the Headmaster isn't on campus at the moment." The three of them turn to see Ruby sitting on the railing for the stairs watching over them and they all shout, "Ruby!?" Ruby jumps down to greet them as Kurumu asks, "Ruby, what are you doing here!?" Ruby smile to them and says, "Long time no see. The Headmaster said you might try to take back Tsukune while he was gone, so he told me to keep an eye on you all." Yukari runs over to her and gives her a big hug as she says, "Ruby! I missed you!" "Ruby, why did the Headmaster send both Reiji and Tsukune to work on the Festival Committee? Wouldn't just one of them work just fine?", Moka asks her. "Well, they're there for more than just planning the festival. It's supposed to be a secret, but the Headmaster said I'm allowed to tell you girls about it.", Ruby replies in a more serious tone. "A secret? What kind of secret?", Mizore asks as she walks out from under the stairs. Everyone but Ruby is surprised by her sudden appearance and Ruby replies with, "Since the Headmaster let me start working here, he's been having me take care of a certain group of students that have been trying to take down the school for some reason. They're made up of Monstrels and call themselves the Anti-Schoolers. Earlier this week they sent in a threat that the school festival was going to be stopped one way or another, so the Headmaster decided to send in two of the best that we had to make sure it all goes smoothly. For all we know there might even be a spy on the Festival Committee somewhere." "Monstrels? And this group might have infiltrated the Festival Committee!? How come the Headmaster doesn't know about this!?", Kurumu says as she grits her teeth in frustration. "Who do you think told me all this exactly?", Ruby asks redundantly causing Kurumu to hang her head in shame. "To put it bluntly, the Headmaster is using Tsukune as a magnet to bring in the danger from the Anti-Schoolers and Reiji to beat them into a pulp. It's a trap."

Back with Tsukune and Reiji, they've followed the tall student into the Student Council building to see a round table with multiple members sitting around it. Tsukune's frightened by their creepy appearances, but Reiji just sees them as weak smooth talkers. "I bet you're both relieved to see that we're all just a bunch of normal guys here on the committee, huh?", the taller student asks them with a smile as Tsukune continues to freak out from all the creeps around him. All the committee members stand from their seats and turn to the student that let Tsukune and Reiji in before bowing to him while one of them says, "Thank you for all the hard work, Mister President!" Another says, "Yes, thank you!", while another says, "You're a great president!" The taller student just waves them off and says, "Thanks." "President?", Reiji asks with a hint of suspicion. "Oh, sorry, I forgot to introduce myself again, didn't I. I'm Hokuto Kaneshiro: the Student Council President. I'm looking forward to getting to know both of you.", the taller student says with a smile.

Back with the girls, Ruby finishes explaining the Headmaster's plan and Mizore says, "So the Headmaster's using Tsukune as a worm and Reiji as the hook? I don't suppose anybody told them that." "We need to do something. If those guys put this together, then Tsukune will end up in serious trouble.", Kurumu says as she starts heading off without anyone else. "Where do you think you're going!? We don't even know where this Festival Committee is!", Yukari says as she grabs a hold of Kurumu's leg. "Well we can't just let Tsukune be a sitting duck out there, can we?", Mizore says as she puts her hand on Yukari's shoulder. "Tsukune isn't a sitting duck out there, he has Reiji at his side. That's why the Headmaster sent both of them out there.", Ruby explains, but neither Mizore nor Kurumu trust it. "I don't care. I'm going to make sure Tsukune's safe.", Mizore says before walking away from everyone. "Mizore, wait!", Kurumu says causing her to stop and turn to her. "Yeah, Kurumu's right. We need to think things through before we act.", Yukari says before Kurumu starts walking to Mizore while saying, "I'm going with you." As they walk away together, Mizore says to Kurumu, "Listen Boobzilla, Tsukune doesn't need you making things any harder on him than it already is." Kurumu glares over at her before saying, "Right back at ya, Snow Skank."

Back with Tsukune and Reiji, they're sitting in on a meeting with the Festival Committee. Hokuto shouts, "To order! Today's Council meeting is open for business!" Another member passes Hokuto some papers before the member on Tsukune's left asks, "Surprised? Hokuto has quite the charisma, doesn't he?" Tsukune and Reiji turn their heads to see a boy dressed with striped sleeves and pants with long black hair and a smile on his face. "Brilliant minded, strong opinions, speaking skills, and martial arts training... Both the student body and faculty trust him. Most of us joined this council because we look up to him. That's how inspiring he is!", the boy says as he looks up at Hokuto with a smile. He then turns back to Reiji and Tsukune before asking, "So, what brought you guys in?" "Hm?", Reiji replies with a slight glare that seems to intimidate the boy. "I'm only asking 'cause... well...there are these rumors going around.", the boy says with a smile. "Rumors?", Tsukune asks in confusion. Hokuto suddenly slams his hands down on the table and says, "Now on to our next pressing issue, The Anti-Schoolers." "What the hell's an Anti-Schooler?", Reiji asks him. "They're a small group of students that have been causing problems around campus recently. They apparently sent in a threat to the Headmaster himself that they're going to try to ruin the Festival and their ultimate goal is to destroy the school itself! All the hard work we've put in to raise student moral, they're trying to undermine!", Hokuto explains. "And they aren't the only issue. Violent fights break out on a daily basis here on campus. Every day it seems death can strike this campus at any moment. But hear me! This darkness at the core of our school must end with our generation! Deep in my heart, I know we can put an end to this madness if we all work together in harmony. I promise you, we will have peace in our time! We will not back down against these Anti-Schoolers! With all our heart and by the sweat of our brow, we will make this Festival shine like the beacon of hope it is!", Hokuto adds with as much charisma as he can muster. Tsukune is impressed by Hokuto's words while Reiji is slightly bored by them.

The meeting ends and Reiji and Tsukune go for a walk. They suddenly hear the striped shirt boy from earlier shout, "Hey, wait up!" They turn to see him rushing towards them breathing heavily. "Let's walk back together, okay?", the boy says through his gasps for air. "Fine by me.", Reiji says as he continues walking with Tsukune. "You two are Reiji Oni and Tsukune Aono, right? I heard about you two through the school newspapers. You're both pretty popular. Oh, my name is Mizuki by the way, Mizuki Ueshiba.", the boy says as he walks between Tsukune and Reiji. They walk for a while and Mizuki asks, "So, what're your thoughts on your first council meeting? Think you guys can handle it?" Reiji scoffs and says, "This is the first time I'm hearing anything about Anti-Schoolers. I'm looking forward to dealing with them personally." Tsukune lets out a small laugh before saying, "I never realized that this school had students like Hokuto, students who actually want peace between humans and monsters and are willing to take action to make it happen. It was, moving to say the least. He's so different from me... I'm always trying to run away from my problems, but Hokuto seems to face them head on with his head held high. To tell you the truth, I didn't feel like I could really be of any use to the Student Council before, but seeing him like that... Hokuto gave me hope. I want to work for peace too, through the Student Council." Mizuki gives Tsukune a evil look before returning to his normal smiling self and saying, "I guess that rules you guys out then. You both seem like you're both 'good ones' after all." "What are you talking about now?", Reiji asks in a slightly annoyed tone. "You remember the rumors I told you guys that were going around? Apparently there's a spy on the Student Council for the Anti-Schoolers.", Mizuki explains with a grin on his face. "What!? A spy!?", Tsukune shouts in complete disbelief. Mizuki shushes him before looking around and pulling Reiji and Tsukune under the nearby bridge while saying, "It's not safe to talk here! This way!" Mizore and Kurumu walk by the bridge as Kurumu says, "I could've swore I heard Tsukune's voice coming from over here." "You sure? Because I don't see any sign of him, or anybody for that matter.", Mizore says to her as she keeps walking.

Mizuki leads Reiji and Tsukune to a small dilapidated building base and says, "This should be far away from everyone I think." "Mizuki, do you believe it's true? I mean, is it possible that one of the students on the Committee is a spy?", Tsukune asks as he catches his breath. "Yeah, it sounds a bit too far fetched for me. A group of students rising up to try to destroy the school just because they want to see it burn, sounds too stupid to be true honestly.", Reiji adds as he leans against a knocked over pillar. "So you two haven't heard a thing about this spy or the Anti-Schoolers?", Mizuki asks in disbelief. Reiji and Tsukune both shake their heads no and Mizuki is just baffled. "When you both turned your papers in to join, nobody mentioned anything? They didn't tell you to be careful or anything?", Mizuki asks with a confused look on his face. "Not a thing! If they did, I probably wouldn't have joined!", Tsukune replies nervously. "I don't bother with stupid rumors like that.", Reiji adds as he lights himself a cigarette. "Seriously? You really didn't hear anything about this, honest? From anyone?", Mizuki asks with a sinister glare. "Mizuki?", Tsukune asks before Mizuki releases a wave of monster energy that passes by Tsukune and Reiji like a strong breeze as he says, "You aren't lying to me, are you?" Reiji releases a wave his own monster energy that clashes with Mizuki's before quickly overwhelming it. Reiji glares at Mizuki before asking, "Why would we lie about something so meaningless?" Reiji and Mizuki glare at each other for a moment before Mizuki's mood quickly changes back to his normal smiling self. "Sorry for the intimidation tactic, but I had to be sure that neither of you were the spy. It's just, you know, you're both the newest guys here so I just wanted to be sure who I could trust.", Mizuki says before rubbing the back of his neck nervously. He then puts his hand on Tsukune's shoulder and says, "You shouldn't worry so much Tsukune, it's just a rumor anyways. We don't even know if there really is a spy or not." Mizuki starts walking away from Tsukune and Reiji while saying, "Besides, you're both really strong, right? If those Anti-Schooler guys actually come after you, you can just beat 'em up! Like usual!" "Like usual? What do you-", Reiji begins to ask before turning to see Mizuki is already gone. "How does he know about-", Tsukune begins to ask before they hear Mizuki say from underneath them, "Oops, looks like I slipped up." They look down to see Mizuki coming out of the ground with his arms around Tsukune's leg. "Where the hell did he come from!? How did he even get down there!?", Reiji thinks to himself as he transforms into his S class form. "He's the Anti-Schoolers' spy!", Tsukune shouts as he starts to pull him underground. "Bingo! Now it's time for your dirt nap, Tsukune!", Mizuki says before dragging him underground. Reiji starts focusing his power into his fist before shouting, "Like I'd let you do that!" With a single punch to the ground, the earth under him shatters into pieces and leaves a giant crater, but there isn't any sign of Tsukune or Mizuki. "Reiji, what's going on? Where's Tsukune?", Kurumu asks as she and Mizore show up from around the corner. "Yeah, we heard him screaming and came running. Where'd he go?", Mizore says as she looks around. They hear Mizuki's say from under them, "More pesky do gooders? I guess I'll have to kill you two now too." Suddenly, arms pop out from the ground and grab Mizore's and Kurumu's legs before starting to pull them underground. "Killing Tsukune was just too easy! This form is amazing! You can't even figure out where I am, can you Reiji!?", Mizuki says maniacally from underground. Mizuki continues to slowly pull Mizore and Kurumu underground as Kurumu says, "Tsukune? Killed!?" "You killed him!? You killed Tsukune!?", Mizore shouts as she struggles to try to break free, but fails as he continues to pull them further underground. Mizuki laughs before saying, "Yeah, and I'll drag all three of you down under to see his body! Would you like that!?" Mizuki suddenly goes silent before his body flies up into the air, bursting through the ground like a missile. Reiji quickly pulls Mizore and Kurumu out of the ground as they watch Tsukune pull himself out of the hole that Mizuki was launched out of. "What!? But how!? I snapped your neck, I know I did!", Mizuki says as he tries to dig underground again. Reiji rushes over to him and punches the ground again while saying, "You're not getting away from me again, you little shit!" He launches Mizuki into the air before Tsukune looks up and leaps into the air and punches him back down with as much force as his vampire blood will let him. Mizuki is knocked unconscious by the attack as Tsukune lands unharmed next to Mizore and Kurumu before saying, "I won't forgive... anyone who attacks my friends!"

Moments later, Mizuki and Tsukune are both put on stretchers and right before they can take Tsukune away, Hakuto shows up and shouts, "Tsukune!", as he rushes to his side. Hokuto grabs Tsukune's hand and says, "I heard about Mizuki. I'm so sorry. Joining the council almost cost you your life..." Tsukune notices how sincere Hokuto sounds as he says that before saying, "Hokuto, promise me something... Promise me you'll keep trying. Don't let them win. We must bring peace between humans and monsters." Hokuto smiles as he hears this and says, "Of course. We'll transform this world into one of peace and unity, together." They hall Tsukune away to get treatment as Hokuto walks away to continue his work on the Festival Committee.


	17. Chapter 17: The Betrayal

With only ten days left until the Festival, Tsukune and Reiji do their best to help the committee prepare. They walk together with Hokuto through the hallways as they help put up signs and decorations for the Festival with the other committee members. "Wow! This is amazing! This whole place looks festive for once!", Tsukune says in amazement as Reiji plasters a poster on the wall. "Yeah, I've never seen so many people working together at this school to do something for the whole student body like this, unless you count wanting to kill you, Tsukune.", Reiji notes as he elbows him in the side. "Oh, I keep forgetting you two are first years here. This is the first time you'll experience the festival, right? It'll get a lot busier than this.", Hokuto says with a slight smile. "Many alumni members return every year to celebrate, even the ones who moved to the human world. It's a celebration for the students and a reunion all in one! This will last three whole days, starting from October 29th to Halloween.", Hokuto continues as he helps another committee member by holding their ladder steady as they go up and hang a sign. After the member comes down the ladder, they continue down the hall as Hokuto turns to them and says, "This year, we'll have three days to showcase our support for peace. That will be our personal project Tsukune and Reiji. We couldn't ask for a better job, huh?" Hokuto looks over at Tsukune, who says, "Yeah, I'm happy to be bringing monsters and humans closer." He then looks over at Reiji, who replies with, "It'll take more than just a festival to help bring true peace between monsters and humans, but this is a good first step I guess."

Back with the rest of the Newspaper Club, Yukari is typing away at her laptop as Moka works on drawing the layout for the Festival articles for their newspapers. Kurumu kicks open the door with her hands full of papers before walking into the room and saying, "I'm back! I finished our research!" "Welcome back, Kurumu. You can set those down right here.", Moka says as she points to an empty space on the table next to her. "It took a while, but I finally collected every piece of information on the class activities as I could.", Kurumu says as she drops the papers where Moka told her, shaking the table with a powerful thud. Moka starts fixing her hair as she says, "Great job Kurumu, but we still have a lot of work to do before we're done. We still have to write a FAQ article, list all the musical events that they'll be having, pick out a few pictures, design a cute layout for the articles...", causing Kurumu's mind to melt from all the work before she passes out from that and exhaustion. Mizore's working on the floor, trying to make a good layout for all the pictures in the newspaper, before asking, "If we still have so much work to do, then why aren't Tsukune and Reiji here helping? You'd think they'd at least help one day this week, but they've just been going to those Festival Council emergency meetings." "Yeah, that Hokuto guy is making everything so much harder on us! Why do they always have to go support his meetings, but don't have the time of day to come help us out!?", Kurumu growls, furious at all of them. "Don't be so hard on them, Kurumu. They're just trying their best to make this year's festival as good as possible. And I can understand why they'd follow Hokuto. All the teachers love him. He's a really great guy.", Moka says trying to get back to work. "What do you mean good!? He's skinny and has an evil smile! I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw his giant ass!", Kurumu shouts as she grabs Moka by her shirt. "Are you getting jealous of a guy? That's a new low, even for you, Kurumu.", Yukari mocks the succubus as she continues to type away on her laptop. Kurumu tackles the witch to the ground and as they start fighting, Moka starts to think, "She makes a good point though. If it were to come down to it, would they choose to just keep working with the Student Council or come back to us here in the Newspaper Club?"

Back with Reiji and Tsukune, they're in the Student Council room working at a table. Reiji finishes drawing the last piece for their project and says, "There, done. How does it look?" Tsukune turns to Hokuto and says, "Hey Hokuto, come check this out. We just finished designing this poster for the Class Activities Schedule. What do you think of it?" Hokuto makes his way from his white board to their table as he says, "You two work quick. What do you have for us?" Reiji passes him the poster and as Hokuto eyeballs the poster while saying, "So what's your class doing again? Oh, 1-3 is going to have a 'Catch the Fish' booth? Catch the Fish? Like the Summer Festival?" "Yeah, Miss Nekonome said she'd be really into it and that she'd take care of everything.", Reiji says as he sits in his chair. "But I'm a bit worried she might eat all the fish though.", Tsukune adds as he nervously rubs the back of his neck. Hokuto gets a chuckle out of it before saying, "Wow, this is pretty good guys. We can finally take a breather. Why don't you stop by your classroom, Tsukune?" "Really?", Tsukune asks in slight disbelief. "Yeah, I don't have anything left for you to do. Besides, you haven't been going to your club, have you?", Hokuto says as he continues to look over the poster. Tsukune leaves and Reiji goes to follow after him, but Hokuto grabs him by his arm and says, "I have one more quick project for you, Reiji." "What? Why me? You got plenty of other people here to help you? What could possibly be so important?", Reiji asks in a less than amused tone. "Because, I've been checking around and you're one of the strongest students we have on the committee. We think the Anti-Schoolers have been ripping down our posters and burning them. We need you to take care of them, since I've heard you're more than capable of taking care of yourself. You'll be part of a team of committee members and you'll help hunt down these Anti-Schoolers and put an end to their actions.", Hokuto says as he lets go of Reiji's arm. Reiji sighs and replies with, "Fine, but when I'm done with these Anti-Schoolers I'm going to go check up on my friends, got it?"Hokuto nods and hands him a piece of paper with the meet up location before Reiji leaves to find the group of committee members who he'll be helping hunt down the Anti-Schoolers.

Tsukune is walking back to the school to see Moka and everyone else at the Newspaper Club, but as he's heading down some stairs he hears a boy say, "Hey, nice bracelet you got there." He turns to see a male student he hasn't seen before with short white hair and different colored eyes, his left eye being green and his right being red with its pupil being like that of a goat. He closes the book he's reading and jumps down while saying, "I'm jealous! I want one too!" He walks up to Tsukune and looks at the Holy Lock while saying, "That's pretty nice on you. Can I try it on?" The boy begins to touch the lock, which causes Tsukune to back away from him nervously before saying, "Sorry, I can't take this off. I have to go now, I'm in a hurry." Tsukune runs off and the other student is left standing there with a slight grin on his face. "Looks like my job's complete. Now the Headmaster will be on his guard.", the guy mutters to himself as he puts his book in his pocket and heads up the stairs. He's greeted halfway up the stairs by Hokuto, who says, "Kiriya, you know you shouldn't be doing that." As he reaches the top of the stairs, Hokuto continues, saying, "You're being watched under the suspicion of being an Anti-Schooler, you know that. You can't talk to Tsukune so freely." Kiriya giggles to himself before saying, "Look who's talking. You're the one who has to play nice. Won't someone suspect you if you're caught talking to me, Hokuto?" Kiriya laughs and pats Hokuto on the back before saying, "It's been a while Hokuto! How 've things been on the committee? Everything going according to plan?" Little do they know, Moka is watching from behind a tree roughly twenty feet away. "Who's that? One of Hokuto's friends?", Moka thinks to herself as she watches Kiriya continue to pat Hokuto on his back and laugh. "So, what about Reiji? Is he, taken care of?", Kiriya asks Hokuto. Hokuto nods and says, "He's fallen into place, just like everyone else has. Now the only question mark left in my plan, is you, Kiriya. If you can keep yourself in check, then we're set." Moka moves a little and frightens a couple crows near her, causing them to fly off. Hokuto notices them and feels someone watching them. He looks over in Moka's direction, but can't figure out if it was just the crows or something else. "Hokuto, something wrong?", Kiriya asks as he stops messing around, becoming a bit more serious with his tone. Hokuto shakes his head no and says, "No, nothing. Absolutely nothing." Moka hides behind the tree, trying not to be seen while covering her own mouth to keep herself from possibly screaming in fear. "I have to tell Tsukune. This can't possibly be good.", Moka says before heading back to the Newspaper Club.

Later at the Newspaper Club room, Moka told Kurumu, Yukari and Mizore about what she saw. "Hokuto was hanging out with a guy that's suspected of being an Anti-Schooler? Why would he do that?", Yukari asks with a confused look on her face. "Is it possible, that Hokuto's the spy on the committee?", Mizore asks. "It could be, why else would he be hanging out with a guy like that?", Kurumu says with a concerned look on her face. "Apparently from what Ruby told me about Kiriya, Hokuto and him are polar opposites. Hokuto is a peace loving honors student and Kiriya is a violent outcast with poor grades. They have nothing in common really.", Moka explains. "If this is all true and Hokuto is one of those Anti-Schoolers, Tsukune and Reiji are in serious danger.", Kurumu says before the door opens. They all look to the door to see Tsukune walking in with a smile on his face as he says, "I'm back! How 've you all been?" "Tsukune! You're in serious danger! Stay away from that Hokuto guy!", Kurumu shouts as she pulls him into her chest and flings him around like a ragdoll. "Kurumu!? What're you talking about? Why would I need to stay away from Hokuto?", Tsukune asks after Yukari knocks Kurumu upside her head with a washtub. "Moka saw a meeting between him and a possible member of the Anti-Schoolers. They were apparently talking about a 'plan' and Reiji being 'taken care of' or something like that.", Mizore explains. "Moka? You must've misheard him or something. Besides, there's no way Hokuto would be part of the Anti-Schoolers. This must all be some sort of big misunderstanding, I assure you.", Tsukune says with a nervous laugh. "I saw them Tsukune! They were talking like they were really close friends and they were talking about a plan that Hokuto has. We have to warn the Headmaster and Reiji!", Moka says as she heads for the door. Tsukune turns to go out the door and Kurumu shouts, "Tsukune! Where are you going!? Don't tell me that you believe Hokuto over your own friends!" Tsukune just says, "No, I believe you... but that's the problem. I'll check this out on my own. You go tell the Headmaster just in case." Tsukune rushes off without another word and rushes back to the Student Council room to confront Hokuto.

Back with Reiji, he finally finds the spot he's supposed to meet the rest of the committee members to hunt down the Anti-Schoolers. He looks around after putting the note back in his pocket and sees that nobody's there yet. He lights himself a cigarette before saying, "I guess they got cold feet. You don't send kids to do a pro's job I guess." He senses something behind him and thinks, "What? Some late bloomers?" When he turns around, he sees five people standing there. "So, you're the team that Hokuto was talking about?", he asks them, but none of them reply. "Anybody know where to start looking for these Anti-Schooler guys? Hokuto said they were tearing down posters we were putting up, so he's sending us to tear them down.", Reiji continues, but only gets laughed at by the whole group. "He told you that we were going to hunt down the Anti-Schoolers? You really don't get it do you?", a male student with a scar on his face says as he steps forward out of the shadows hiding the rest of the group. Reiji starts to put it together as the rest of the group leaps over the scar faced student at him with their claws and fists ready to attack.

Back with Tsukune, he's running to the front door to the Student Council building thinking, "I don't know what to think. I trust what Moka said, but I don't want it to be true. It just can't be. Hokuto is too nice to be an Anti-Schooler, he just can't be one of them!" When he finally gets to the front door, he swings the door open and sees the room he once worked in, covered in the blood and corpses of the former Festival Committee and Student Council with Hokuto standing over them with his hands soaked in blood. "H-Hokuto? What's going on?", Tsukune asks nervously as Hokuto turns to see him. "Ah, so you came after all, Tsukune.", Hokuto says before picking up a broken leg off of a chair off the floor. "So...Moka was right... You're the spy after all... Hokuto...", Tsukune says with a frightened look on his face. Hokuto moves at an unimaginable speed trying to stab Tsukune through the heart with his wooden weapon, but Tsukune manages to just barely dodge out of the way of the attack. As Hokuto pulls the piece of wood out of the wall, Tsukune asks, "Is it true, Hokuto? Are you working with Kiriya and the Anti-Schoolers?" Hokuto sighs and says, "So we were being watched after all. Oh well, that just means we'll have to launch our plan a little earlier than anticipated." He then pushes up his glasses and says, "Well there's no point leaving you in the dark any longer. You're correct Tsukune, but more than you may realize." "More than I realize? Does that mean... you're..", Tsukune begins to ask before Hokuto turns to him and says, "Yes, I'm actually the leader of the Anti-Schoolers." Tsukune drops to his knees after hearing this and says, "But... I trusted you... I believed in you... All this time my life was in danger... and my friends got dragged into this..." He slams his fists against the floor and shouts, "I was at the end of my rope! I wanted to run away, but I held it together! Even when I was on the edge, I thought... I have to stay to protect what I believe in... What we believe in...I even told myself that I could be strong... If I just followed your example I'd be strong enough to protect my friends!" Hokuto looks down at him like a worm and says, "Your sentimentality bores me. Emotions are pointless. I only seek knowledge. Now show me the power you used to defeat Kuyo." Hokuto lifts the piece of wood in the air, preparing to strike Tsukune down, before saying, "If you don't, you'll die here and now!" Tarot cards suddenly fly in out of nowhere, forcing him to dodge back to avoid being sliced. He notices the tarot cards and goes to say something, but gets cut off when the pool of blood he stepped in starts to freeze and forms a hand that grabs onto his ankle to hold him place. He looks down at the ice and says, "The blood, now I'm trapped." They both suddenly hear Kurumu shout, "You make me sick! You're the lowest of low, Hokuto!" They both look up to see Kurumu dive-bombing him as she shouts, "I saw through you from the start! Your face! It's evil!" She then slashes him with all her strength, sending him flying across the room through the remains of the table and into the wall. Mizore, with her ice claws formed, and Yukari, with her wand and tarot cards in hand, come out from around the corner. As the dust settles, Kurumu says, "Tsukune... What you said about being on the edge... Why didn't you tell us!? You're so selfish! Trying to protect us... And in the end... taking everything on yourself. You have to let us in Tsukune. If we do this together, it won't hurt half as bad." As Tsukune sees all the girls' smiles, he smiles and says, "Kurumu...All of you..." They all hear Hokuto laughing as he walks through the rubble, unharmed by Kurumu's attack. He dusts himself off while saying, "So close. I was so close to seeing the true power that's inside you Tsukune. I thought I'd finally get to see it for myself, but I guess I'll have to wait." Kurumu, Yukari and Mizore all quickly surround him while keeping him from getting any closer to Tsukune. "How dare you treat Tsukune like this?! We'll put you in your place, Hokuto... We'll make you feel Tsukune's pain!", Kurumu shout as she prepares to strike. Before they can all attack, the door swings open and Ruby falls inside, covered in blood and bruises as she falls to her knees shouting, "Stop!" They all turn to her as she says, "I'm so sorry...but...Moka...was taken!"


	18. Chapter 18: The Plan Unfolds

"What!? Moka's been kidnapped!?", Tsukune asks frantically. "I'm sorry, I was with her, but I couldn't do anything to stop him. I'm so sorry.", Ruby says as beaten and burned witch uses her wand to pull herself up off the floor. Tsukune helps Ruby stay on her feet and says, "Hokuto! Are you behind this too!? Attacking the Student Council members, now kidnapping Moka. You were so convincing... hard working... I thought I'd found a kindred spirit." He then turns to Hokuto and shouts, "Why!? How could you do something like this!?" Hokuto laughs and says, "You thought we were kindered spirits? Don't make me laugh! You're nothing without your friends! A worm like you can't even begin to comprehend my master plan, let alone stop me!", Hokuto shouts with an evil grin on his face. Kurumu grits her teeth and says, "Listen you... I don't give a shit what your big fancy plan is.. You're gonna tell us where you're keeping Moka or we're gonna beat it out of you!", before lunging at him with her nails ready to cut him down. Hokuto grabs her by her wrist, stopping her attack, and says, "Just as I thought... You're like a little songbird... sharp and precise attacks, but once caught... you're helpless." Hokuto chuckles to himself at her helplessness before saying, "Without your precious Moka Akashiya, none of you stand a chance against me!" As Hokuto goes to strike her down, Mizore attacks using the blood on the floor to make giant ice shards that force him to let go of Kurumu and retreat. She helps Kurumu to her feet and says, "What do you think you're trying to pull? You know you don't have a snowball's chance in Hell of beating this guy on your own. If you really want to help Moka, just stay calm and focused." As they both stand their ground, Mizore continues by saying, "I'm not a great fighter either. I haven't had enough experience to get very good at it yet. But there is one thing that I'm sure of... If we all pool our strength together... there's no enemy we can't beat!" More Tarot cards rain down on Hokuto from above, forcing him to dodge them all if he doesn't want to die. Yukari walks to their side with her Tarot cards and wand before saying, "And don't forget about me!" Ruby joins them too before saying, "I'll fight too.", as she lifts her wand, ready to battle. Hokuto sighs and says, "These friends again. What a pain." The girls all ready to attack as a team as Kurumu shouts, "These friends are about to take you down Hokuto!"

Over with Moka, who had just regained consciousness, she opens her eyes to see the stary night sky and the branches of a tree. As she sits up she's greeted by Kiriya, who says, "Ah, you're finally awake. Sorry for handling you as ruff as I did, but it was all for his grand plan after all." "Kiriya!", Moka says as she realizes who kidnapped her. She turns away and starts to run, but Kiriya grabs her by her arm and says, "Hey, now that's just rude! I don't remember giving you permission to go anywhere!" He then throws her onto the ground and gives her an evil smile before saying, "You can never get away from me, Moka. You can't even unleash your power without that boy, Tsukune, right? He's the only one who can take that rosary of yours off I hear." "Somebody will come for me. My friends will-", Moka begins to say before Kiriya laughs and says, "What friends? Right now, your friend Reiji is being torn apart by every other member of the Anti-Schoolers, and your other friends and your precious Tsukune are all going to die by Hokuto's hands. Nobody is coming to save you Moka, no one." He then gets a giant evil grin on his face before holding his hand out to her and saying, "Now, why don't you be a good girl and do as you're told? Either that or I can kill you right now, if you'd prefer."

Back with Tsukune and his friends, Hokuto has been knocked back into the wall, causing it to crack as his blood covered body slams against it before he slides down it to his knees. As he falls onto his hands and knees, Hokuto gasps for air from exhaustion. Kurumu giggles to herself before saying, "We beat him already!? We've faced tougher enemies than this guy. This was nothing!" Yukari and Mizore both sigh before Yukari says, "You know, that'd probably be more convincing if we weren't all covered in our own blood and bruises." They all look at themselves and realize they look like they've been through a meat processor, as Tsukune seems to be unable to take his eyes off of Hokuto. Kurumu blows off Yukari's remark and says, "Anyways, we won. So your plan to destroy the school is foiled, Hokuto. Now tell us... Where are you keeping Moka?" Hokuto says nothing, which pisses Kurumu off as she shouts, "You're gonna tell us, or die!", before lunging at him with her nails ready to slice his head off. Tsukune shouts, "Stop!", as he moves between her and Hokuto, shielding him from her attack. Everyone's surprised by his actions before Kurumu says, "Tsukune!? Why did you stop me? We need to find Moka, and he knows where she is... We need to get him to talk somehow, right?" Tsukune just looks down at Hokuto with a sad look before saying, "I'm sorry..but.. Hokuto, that face you had when you were talking about bringing peace to this school, it showed me that you truly believed you could bring peace to this place. That's how I know you weren't lying, not entirely at least. So please, your plan has already failed. Just tell us where you're keeping Moka. I don't want to see you or anyone else get hurt anymore, Hokuto." Hokuto just grits his teeth and looks away, causing Tsukune's look to sadden even more, before he says, "I guess you leave us no choice. We're taking him to the Headmaster, maybe he'll know what to do."

Back with Kiriya and Moka, she tries one more time to escape, but Kiriya just backhands her into a tree and says, "Come on, didn't I tell you already? Don't try to escape. If you just stay still and do nothing, I won't have to hurt you." Moka starts to pick herself off the ground as she asks, "But why? Why are you doing this Kiriya!? What do you think you're accomplishing!?" Kiriya turns around and sits down on one of the nearby tombstones before saying, "Maybe if you sat still for a moment, I'd tell you." She sits still for a moment, causing him to smile as he crosses one of his legs over the other and says, "I guess you already know about the Great Barrier, right? Well it was created by the Three Dark Lords when they built this school. Its powerful magic is what keeps all humans out. That barrier is the only thing that allows us to live our monstrous lives right under the humans' noses." He then raises his hands up to the sky as if asking it a question before saying, "But come on, what's the fun in that!? If the barrier falls, monsters and humans will be thrown back together. And wouldn't that disturbance make life more interesting?" "Don't tell me, you're planning on-", Moka begins to ask before Kiriya grins at her, letting her know what she's thinking is very true.

Back with Tsukune and his friends, he's brought Hokuto before the Headmaster, who's looking down at them from the nearby stairs. "My thanks, good work Tsukune.", the Headmaster says as he walks down the stairs to them before stopping at the top of the first set of stairs. He looks to Hokuto and says, "As I suspected...I knew it was you Hokuto.", before raising his Rosary of Judgement and saying some prayers. A sigil appears under Hokuto's feet before a barrier forms around him, trapping him with a flash of light. "I almost forgot about you. You're just as thorough as I expected you to be, but did I really not fool you at all? Not even at the start?", Hokuto replies as the barrier forms layers of more barriers around him, trapping him even further. He then gives the barrier a good punch and when he does, it cuts his knuckles. "You old bastard, you planned all this all along. You assigned Tsukune and Reiji to the committee just to flush me out. Let me guess, Tsukune was the bait and Reiji was the assassin, right? Too bad I had my people eliminate him. He's probably lying dead in a pool of his own blood by now. Everything went just as you planned, right Headmaster!?", Hokuto proclaims maniacally as he glares at the mysterious Headmaster. Tsukune turns to him with a concerned look and says, "Eliminate? Hokuto, what have you done?" The Headmaster turns away and says, "I had such high hopes for you Hokuto, you were such a bright student. What a shame... Men, take Tsukune and the others to my quarters and Hokuto to the dungeon. Once we've gotten everything set, we'll go out and find Moka and Reiji." Before the Headmaster has the chance to just walk away, Hokuto starts to laugh uncontrollably. Everyone starts to worry about his mental well being before they see him shatter the barrier around himself, sending Tsukune and the others flying backwards from the blast. "Everything did go according to plan. But the funny thing is, it wasn't your plan, Headmaster.", Hokuto explains as he pierces the Headmaster with spears he made out of his own arm. "How long I've waited... for this very moment... To kill a Dark Lord!", Hokuto happily shouts with a giant grin on his face as he throws the Headmaster's limp body to the floor. The Rosary of Judgement falls to the floor with a klank before the Headmaster asks, "But how? How did you...break through my barrier... Hokuto?" Hokuto ignores the dying old man and picks up the rosary with his new claws before saying, "Here's what I've been looking for, the Rosary of Judgement. If I want to dissolve the Great Barrier, I need this talisman!" The Headmaster starts to crawl toward Hokuto as he says, "Boy... Don't do this... The barrier, it mustn't be-", but before he can finish, Hokuto kicks him in the side, forcing him to shut up as he coughs up more blood. "Hokuto, what are you planning on doing with that rosary?", Tsukune asks as he starts walking up the stairs to him. "You still don't get it, do you? I let myself get caught. It was the only way to get past all of the Headmaster's ridiculous defenses. I served on the committee patiently, knowing that eventually he'd send somebody to sniff me out. Why do you think I became friends with you, Tsukune? Why do you think I had Kiriya kidnap Moka and the rest of the Anti-Schoolers kill Reiji? Because they wouldn't have been dumb enough to let me live. I knew you'd be too sentimental to just kill me and would bring me right where I wanted to go! Right in front of the Headmaster! You fell right into my clutches Tsukune! Thanks to you, I now have the last piece to complete my master plan! Now do you see, Tsukune... what I meant by you not being able to do anything without your friends!?", Hokuto proclaims with a smug look on his face. "So this is the real Hokuto. He's more evil than I thought.", Yukari says as she tries to get up and put back on her witch hat. "I thought we defeated him...but... he was just playing us the whole time...", Kurumu growls as she struggles to get up off the floor. Hokuto just shrugs his shoulders and laughs before saying, "You brought this all on yourself, Tsukune. Your compassion is your weakness. And now, I don't need you weaklings any longer. Stay out of my way. I'm going to bring 'peace' to this school, once and for all." Tsukune quickly taps into his vampire blood before appearing right behind Hokuto and punching him in the face, sending him flying up the stairs and into the wall. Everyone is surprised by Tsukune's attack, even the Headmaster, as Tsukune says, "I told you, Hokuto, I don't want you or anyone else to get hurt. If I truly don't have any other choice and nothing but force will change your mind, then... I'll take you down! Here and now!"

Back at the battlefield between Reiji and the Anti-Schooler army, the ground is soaked with blood and corpses are everywhere. In the middle of it all, sits a blood stained pack of cigarettes.


	19. Chapter 19: Lock & Key

Hokuto laughs maniacally to himself as he stands up from the rubble and dusts himself off before saying, "That's odd, I must be going crazy from everything falling perfectly into place. Because I thought for a second you just said you were going to take me down." Tsukune prepares to launch his next attack as Hokuto gets a smug look on his face as he lifts the Rosary of Judgement up to his face and shouts, "A weak piece of trash like you could never stand a chance at defeating me!", as he releases his evil aura through the room. "Such a cold, evil aura. What complete and utter ruthlessness... He considers everyone but himself lesser and just as disposable as trash. This really is Hokuto's true nature!", Kurumu thinks as she tries to pull herself off the ground as they all hear Hokuto's evil laughter. "I have to help! Tsukune can't take on this guy by himself. He'd die!", Kurumu thinks as she and the other girls rise to their feet. Hokuto quickly points the Rosary of Judgement at them and says, "How about you small fry stay out of my way!", before a sigil appears under their feet. A barrier quickly forms around them before they have a chance to escape and Ruby shouts, "This is the same barrier that the Headmaster used to trap Hokuto!" "A barrier? But how can he make one just like the Headmaster's?", Mizore asks as she tries to break through, but fails. "We're trapped! Tsukune!", Kurumu shouts as she pounds her fists against the barrier trying to escape. Hokuto throws the Rosary of Judgement into the air and catches it while saying, "Just as I thought, with this rosary even a novice can create an impermeable barrier. I'd expect no less from one of the Three Dark Lords' toys." "No... I must..stop him... Before he figures out...the key...", the Headmaster says as he pulls his broken body to Tsukune's side. Tsukune looks down in amazement and asks, "Headmaster?" "Tsukune, you must stop Hokuto. He really means it, he's going to dissolve the barrier! It's the only thing that separates this academy and the human world! If it dissolves, humans will discover our existence... After that, only rivers of blood will follow! The fragile truce we've worked so long to create will shatter as humans start to hunt down monsters and monster devour humans. It would be full on war between the two races!", the Headmaster explains to him as he kneels down to hear him better. "But... if that happens, humans would die by the millions!", Tsukune shouts in disbelief. Hokuto laughs at Tsukune's fear and says, "That's very true and that's why it's the right thing to do, Tsukune. Humans and monsters are born enemies. All I'm doing is returning us to our natural order. We'll all have some fun with those flesh bags until they run dry." "No, my mom and dad, they're in the human world along with countless others... And monsters will die too... My friends... would die...", Tsukune thinks as he grits his teeth. "No Hokuto, you won't do this! I won't let you!", Tsukune shouts as he rushes in to fight Hokuto. An evil grin comes across Hokuto's face before he says, "And just how do you plan on doing that? By slaying me? Can you even manage that? You're nothing but talk, Tsukune!" Hokuto throws the rosary into the air before easily blocking Tsukune's punch. He goes for a counter attack, but Tsukune manages to block it with his free hand. Tsukune pulls his fist back one more time and tries to knock Hokuto out with a single punch while shouting, "Hokuto!" Hokuto only seems annoyed by this however as he says, "Spare me your drama! You're getting on my nerves!" Hokuto's right hand starts to split apart before his fingers grow and try to stab through Tsukune's face. Tsukune manages to barely dodge this surprise attack, only getting grazed across his right cheek as he leaps away from the monster as Hokuto's weaponized fingers slam into a pillar, shattering it into small pieces. "Tsukune! Be careful!", Kurumu shouts through her tears, desperately slicing and clawing at the barrier to get to Tsukune. As the pieces start to fall, Hokuto catches the rosary with his normal hand as Tsukune puts a little space in between himself and Hokuto.

Back with Moka, she's sitting on the ground as Kiriya reads his book. Moka can sense that something's wrong as she thinks, "Is it Tsukune? Is he alright? I need to go, I need to help him." Kiriya sighs and says, "I can tell you're still thinking about him. You want to go help him, don't you? You want to run to Tsukune's side. Naturally you're wondering what's happening to him while you're being help captive here. Alright, how about this, I'll take you straight to Tsukune... if you can defeat me." Moka considers fighting him before Inner Moka says, "Stop being an idiot, you know you can't do anything against him. Just look at his monster energy, he's dangerous." Moka just sits back down with a disappointed look on her face. Kiriya sighs and says, "This is so boring... Oh well, guess I'll just have to up the ante!" She looks up to see a bug like monster crawling down his right arm. He places it on the ground and says, "It's pretty cute, right? It's one of my pet Shikigami." As the Shikigami walks a few feet away from them, it starts shooting a light up into the air, causing Moka to look away and cover her eyes. "Don't be so frightened. It's just a projection.", Kiriya calmly says to her as he continues to read his book. As the projection starts to focus, Kiriya says, "Shikigami come in pairs and are linked to one another for their entire lives. They share what they see with their other half through their radio wave like aura. The receiving Shikigami can even project the image for others to see, but they can only see what the other sees, they can't hear anything." The projection finally finishes focusing and they see Tsukune and Hokuto fighting and Kiriya says, "Looks like it already started then." "What's going on!?", Moka asks in confusion until she realizes who's fighting. She watches Tsukune continue to miss his punches at Hokuto before shouting, "Tsukune!?"

"I have to stop him! Even if it kills me, Hokuto needs to be stopped!", Tsukune thinks to himself as he wildly attacks Hokuto. Hokuto continues to dodge his attacks gracefully as he thinks, "He's pretty swift for a rookie, but he's still a rookie." Hokuto jumps over Tsukune's attack and up into the air while saying, "You're just fighting on instinct, instinct derived from your vampire blood! You're nothing more than a wild animal with too many openings!" Hokuto attacks him again with his finger spears attack, slicing Tsukune's left shoulder and cheek.

"Tsukune!", Moka shouts as rubble from Hokuto's attack starts to fall on top of Tsukune. Kiriya giggles to himself as he enjoys the girl's despair before saying, "Fun, huh? Didn't you want to see what Tsukune was up to? Well, here's your answer: he's getting beaten to death by Hokuto. Hokuto's been training in martial arts since he was a boy. He's a real cut above the other thugs you guys are used to. You can't just beat him with brute force." Moka starts to cry as she watches Tsukune barely avoid being crushed by large pieces of pillar before Kiriya mockingly says, "So, what are you going to do, Moka? You can't save him from here, can you? But if you want to get to him, you'll have to beat me first. You better hurry, or Hokuto's going to kill your little boyfriend, Tsukune!" Moka turns to him with rage filled eyes as they start to turn from her normal kind eyes to vampire ones. A grin comes across his face as he thinks, "Oh, would you look at that? Is she finally getting serious? Come on! Show me what you can do without Tsukune! Show me a good time!" Moka rushes toward him, but instead of attacking him, she grabs his shoulders and says, "Please! Take me there! Take me to Tsukune!" She reluctantly lets go of him as she starts to cry and say, "...please... please just take me... Last time he got like this, Tsukune turned into a ghoul... Please, if you take me there, I'll do whatever you want!" "So, that's how it is then... Moka?", Kiriya asks in a bizarre mono-toned voice before glaring down at her and releasing a huge wave of his evil monster energy as he says, "You're so pathetic... pathetically boring." She looks up at him in horror before he grabs her by her throat with one hand and lifts her up into the air, her feet desperately trying to reach the ground. As she panics and gasps for air, he says, "You know what, honey? I really wanted to see you fight under that magical seal. That's why I showed you all this. But instead you just start balling your eyes out and begging, pathetic! You should be ashamed! And you dare to call yourself a Vampire!?" They both turn to the projection and watch as Hokuto continues to knock Tsukune around like a ball. "Looks like it's curtains for Tsukune too. And he has vampire blood in his veins. I always heard that vampires were incredibly powerful, but look at him. He's just laying down to die. It's embarrassing.", Kiriya says with an evil glare at her. He then turns to the projection with a giant smile and says, "You're a bunch of party poopers. You can' do anything on your own! Good riddance to all you stupid friends!" Moka tries her best to scream for Tsukune, but she can barely breath let alone scream. With one last strike, Tsukune is left laying face first on the ground, covered in his own blood. The room goes silent as the girls start to tear up at the sight of Tsukune in such a damaged state, convinced that he's actually dead this time. Hokuto pushes up his glasses and says, "Finally, he's dead. Can't keep getting up forever I guess. Now I can get back to my master plan. I've wasted enough time on him." As Hokuto starts to walk away from Tsukune's limp body, he hears Tsukune say, "S...stop.." He turns around and is surprised to see Tsukune slowly getting up. "I can't lose here. If I do, everyone will die. I can't let you win here, Hokuto.", Tsukune says as he gets up on his knees and looks Hokuto in the eyes. "You're not dead? What a pain.", Hokuto says smugly before thinking, "Is it just me, or does his monster energy grow every time he gets back up?" Tsukune makes it to his feet as his body starts to get covered in a dark and evil aura. Kiriya starts to laugh before saying, "He still wants to fight!? He's not just a weakling, he's also a fool!" "I have to do something! If I don't, Tsukune's going to die!", Moka thinks as she watches Tsukune get back in the fight. She looks down at her rosary and starts to desperately tug at it. "What!? Are you insane!? You can't take that thing off by yourself, idiot! It's impossible! Just give it up!", Kiriya shouts as he slaps her hand away from her rosary, forcing her to stop. Kiriya's and Moka's eyes both widen in disbelief as they smell the air and Moka thinks, "W-what's that!? This killing intent and strong sent of blood..." They suddenly hear the sound of something dripping like a leaking shower head, causing Kiriya to turn around and they both see a boy wearing a baseball jersey and cap covered in blood with a gash across his forehead and a clearly broken nose. The boy starts to laugh hysterically before pointing at Kiriya and saying, "There he is! That's him, I swear! THAT'S KIRIYA YOSHI!" "Ah, so you used one of our members to track me down, huh? Pretty clever, but it won't do you any good.", Kiriya says with a smug look on his face. They hear the flick of a lighter and its flame and Moka quickly puts it together. "Reiji!? He's okay!?", Moka thinks to herself as she continues to struggle. Reiji comes out of the shadows with the boy's neck in his right hand and a lit cigarette in his mouth. His whole uniform is sliced up and what's left of it is covered in blood. "So, you're Kiriya. You'll be dropping Moka now.", Reiji growls as he starts walking toward Kiriya, dragging the boy along. "Hey, you said if I showed you where Kiriya was supposed to be you'd let me go, right? We had a deal!", the boy proclaims as he tries to struggle to break free of Reiji's grip. "Yeah, whatever. Now go over there.", Reiji says before snapping the boy's neck and tossing him into the darkness like trash. "Did Reiji just kill that guy!? What's gotten into him!?", Moka thinks to herself before Kiriya gets a sadistic smile on his face. "So, how many of them did you kill? Did you have fun? I told Hokuto that he would need more than a few idiots to take you down, but I'm not the play maker.", Kiriya says as he tilts his head. "All of them, and I'll kill you too if you don't put Moka down right now.", Reiji coldly replies without any emotion as he starts to make his way closer to them. Reiji's monster energy rushes past both of them like a sudden flood, pushing Kiriya back a few feet before he can properly plant his feet down on the ground and get a strong enough grip. Kiriya goes to say something, but Reiji suddenly appears in between him and Moka, causing him to become confused by this sudden change. Reiji kicks Kiriya straight in the gut, sending him back as he grabs a hold of Moka by her rosary. Moka falls to her knees, gasping for air as Kiriya's forced to let go of her after the powerful kick he took. She looks up at Reiji and starts to say, "Reiji, I'm glad you're-", but he cuts her off by saying, "You're useless right now. We need to deal with this guy quickly, so I need the other you." She just nods and says, "Do what you need to, Reiji." Inner Moka tries to stop him by shouting, "Are you both crazy!? If you do this, she could disappear forever! Her personality could be shattered, never to return!" Outer Moka just nods and says, "Just do it. Tsukune needs us.", before Reiji gives the rosary a quick tug, but it doesn't seem to budge. He sees the binding between the metal and the leather of the collar is coming undone, so he puts his nail in between the two and quickly pulls them apart, causing one of the beaded chains to come loose and the seal to break. Monster energy starts to flow unnaturally through Moka's body as she screams out in pain. "What the hell!? You broke her seal, but how!?", Kiriya shouts as he holds his stomach in pain. "What fun! I'll get to fight a vampire and a demon all in one go! Let's have some fun!", Kiriya says in a crazed tone as he pulls his hand back to attack. Moka's hair turns silver, her teeth become sharper, and her peaceful eyes turn into vampire eyes filled with rage as Kiriya rushes toward her to attack, but Moka kicks him in the head with all her strength, knocking him unconscious and sending him head first through multiple trees. Reiji isn't phased by her attack or by the glare that she gives him for breaking the seal, instead he just throws his lit cigarette at Kiriya's limp body and says, "We don't have time to waste. Let's get moving." "I know where they're at. I'll lead the way.", Moka says as she starts walking off without him. "He's such a fool. Now we have to go in there and save the day.", Moka says with a slight smile on her face. "But don't we always.", Reiji replies with a slight chuckle as he walks with her.


	20. Chapter 20: The Promise

Through the pain and blood, Tsukune continues to fight Hokuto to save the human world from his evil plan to dissolve the barrier. Hokuto blocks his punch again and punches Tsukune so hard, he goes skidding across the ground. As Tsukune pulls himself up off the ground again, Hokuto nervously thinks, "What's with this guy? Every time I knock him down, he just pops back up!" "I won't let you keep Moka hostage! You have to be stopped, Hokuto!", Tsukune shouts as he rises to his feet one more time. Tsukune's eyes start to turn into vampire eyes as his dark aura starts to get larger and larger. "Oh no! This is just like the last time! He's pushing himself too far! If he doesn't stop soon, he'll turn into a ghoul again!", Ruby shouts as she looks out through the barrier. As the chains on the Holy Lock begin to crack, more and more monster energy starts to pour out of Tsukune's body and Kurumu shouts, "NO! TSUKUNE!" Suddenly, the front door is kicked in and they hear Moka say, "That's enough!" Then they hear Reiji say, "Yeah, you've done pretty good so far, not dying and all, but leave the fighting to the pros, Tsukune." "I-Impossible! How did you both manage to get here in one piece!?", Hokuto shouts in frustration. "Reiji!? Moka!?", the group shouts in disbelief. "But... how? I didn't take off your rosary, so how did you turn into a vampire, Moka?", Tsukune asks in confusion. "I broke it, just shut up and let us kill this guy already, okay?", Reiji explains somewhat as he glares at Hokuto. "I can't believe it! We thought you were trapped, Moka! And Hokuto said you were dead, Reiji!", Ruby says surprised by their sudden appearance. "Now there's hope for all of us! Go get 'em you two! You're our last hope!", Kurumu begs of them as the two powerful monsters enter the battle. "So... What happened to the others?", Hokuto asks as he stares down Reiji. "Oh, the little friends you sent with me to hunt down the Anti-Schoolers? Well, we did our job. I killed every last Anti-Schooler I could find. Made them beg for their lives before I crushed their bones and sliced through their flesh. You had to be there to get a full feel for what happened.", Reiji replies with an evil grin on his face. "And Kiriya? He was supposed to be guarding you, Moka. What did you two do to him?", Hokuto asks them with a stern glare. "He's just taking a nap is all. Reiji didn't have enough time to kill him, since we had a more pressing issue to attend to. To put it simply, you're the only one left now, Hokuto.", Moka replies with a smug look on her face. The veins along his neck start to stick out and when Hokuto notices, he thinks, "Damn, looks like I'm out of time. I used up too much of my monster energy fighting Tsukune." Hokuto grits his teeth in frustration before exclaiming, "Why? Why are you all trying to stop me!? Especially you, Tsukune! Why would you want to protect this school? After all... you're a human!" With that, he raises the Rosary of Judgement into the air, forming a large sigil under himself. "How do you know that!?", Tsukune shouts as the sigil begins to glow with a bright light. The light starts to slowly cover Hokuto's body as he says, "As for me, I have my own reasons for wanting to destroy this school. Reasons I'd give my life for. So stay out of my way!" "Teleportation!?", Moka thinks to herself before rushing into the light shouting, "Not good enough!" "I'm not gonna just let you get away!", Reiji shouts as he rushes into the light after him. Tsukune quickly follows after them and into the light after shouting, "Wait!" The light suddenly disappears as soon as Tsukune enters it, leaving nothing behind. "They're...gone...", Kurumu says with tears in her eyes. "It's okay! That was just a teleportation spell! They just went somewhere else!", Yukari says trying to calm her down. "But where?", Kurumu asks as she stares blankly at where Tsukune once was. "What?", Yukari asks before Kurumu grabs her by the throat and starts strangling her while shouting, "Where's Tsukune!? Where did he go?! We need to find him!" Mizore continues to try to claw her way out of the barrier while saying, "We need to calm down. We can't do anything before we get out of this barrier."

Tsukune, Moka and Reiji find themselves in a dark and roomy place. They sense each other's monster energies, but can't seem to find Hokuto. "It's pitch black in here. Where did Hokuto go?", Moka says as the three of them walk around aimlessly. "He's hiding his monster energy and killer intent pretty well. What a cowered, right?", Reiji says trying to provoke Hokuto into showing himself. "It's... so cold... We've been walking forever with no end in sight. How big can this place be?", Tsukune says as he stops for a second to catch his breath. A light suddenly appears behind them as Hokuto says, "I warned you. You three are such thorns in my side." They all turn to see Hokuto standing at an alter surrounded by bright light. "Located deep in the bowels of the school is the Alter of Everlasting Darkness. This is the heart of Yokai Academy." "Hokuto!", Tsukune shouts as he realizes he was standing there the whole time. Hokuto starts pressing buttons as he says, "My plan was flawless. Or so I thought... I organized the Anti-Schoolers and masterfully manipulated you into helping me steal the Rosary of Judgement. All to destroy this school! But some things I didn't count on... My first miscalculation was you, Tsukune. I thought there wasn't a chance of you fighting your way this far. Then I thought Kiriya would have no trouble incapacitating Moka... And finally I thought that if I threw enough people at Reiji, he'd finally kick the bucket. But here we all are. None of you should've learned about the existence of this alter." He then looks at the Rosary of Judgement with a grin on his face before saying, "No matter, the end result will be the same. All that's left to do now is to fit the Rosary of Judgement into the keyhole. Then the Great Barrier will dissolve and plunge the academy into the human world!" "He's buying time! Get him!", Reiji shouts, but Hokuto slams the rosary into its hole before shouting, "Too late! I win!" "Damn it all, he did it.", Moka growls in her frustration. "This can't be happening. Stop, Hokuto, this is wrong! Stop this!", Tsukune shouts, but Hokuto only smiles at the boy maniacally as he holds his hand out to the boy and says, "Enough, Tsukune. You won't ruin this moment for me. I've been waiting too long for this. In an instant, this school's past and future, it'll all be erased in the blink of an eye. All my waiting and all my scheming. At long last my time has come!" "Sorry, Hokuto. I feel your pain, but this school suits me. And I won't let you destroy it.", Moka says before kicking him upside his head, sending him flying across the room. "Moka! We need to hurry!", Tsukune shouts as he starts to rush over to the alter. Moka looks at all the buttons and says, "We should have enough time to reverse the process." "The Great Barrier covers the entire school so it should take some time for it to completely dissolve since it doesn't dissolve all at once.", Reiji explains as he looks for a way to reverse the process on the alter. "Get...out...of my way. Didn't I...tell you? This is my moment! My singular moment! I won't let it be spoiled by a bunch of weaklings!", Hokuto shouts as his monster energy swirls around him. Moka and Reiji move between him and Tsukune as Moka thinks, "His aura, it's warped. I feel like I've felt this before. What is Hokuto really?" "Why Hokuto? Why are you so desperate to destroy our school!? Why take this so far!?", Tsukune asks him, but Hokuto just glares at him before getting up and throwing off his overcoat as he replies with, "You could never understand, Tsukune. You've had a wonderful adventure here, haven't you? With all your friends protecting you." As he throws his overcoat across the room, all three of them see something wrapped around his left wrist. "T-that's... a Holy Lock! It's just like mine! But that's impossible!", Tsukune exclaims in complete disbelief. "So that explains your aura. You and Tsukune are more similar than I thought, Hokuto.", Reiji notes with a smug look on his face. "Indeed we are, more than I think you realize, Reiji. You see, like Tsukune, was a human once.", Hokuto says as he takes off his glasses and throws them across the room and looks down at his holy lock. They all see that all of the chains are cracked and damage. "Don't do it Hok-", Tsukune begins to shout before Hokuto rips off his own Holy Lock and begins to transform. As his body begins to transform, Hokuto says, "But don't you dare compare our experiences. I had to battle my way through this hellhole, alone! I pushed my body and mind to their limit, alone! The only way I could survive, was to turn into this! I'll never forgive the place that turned me into this... this thing! This hideous... horrifying monster!" As his transformation finishes, they see Hokuto's face on a skeleton like monster with its bones being as sharp as knives and extending all over the place. "That's what's behind all this. The dream that kept me alive all this time: revenge!", Hokuto proclaims with an evil grin.

One of his shoulder blades twitch and Moka shouts, "Look out, he's coming!", before pushing Tsukune out of the way of the attack. Hokuto slashes wildly through the room with his long, scythe like limbs and slices through some of the support pillars holding the roof up. Reiji and Tsukune manage to get out unharmed, but Moka takes a gash to her left leg and arms. When Tsukune realizes Moka's been injured, he shouts, "Moka, are you alright!?" He goes to help her up as he says, "Hang on! You got hurt trying to shield me, didn't you?" She slaps his hand away before lifting herself off the floor and saying, "I don't need your help, now just stay out of the way and keep back. It's too dangerous for you to be fighting this guy, Tsukune. Fall back to the alter for cover." "But Moka, you're hur-", Tsukune begins to say before she cuts him off by saying, "Just do as I say, if you end up dying I won't hear the end of it from the other me! She was willing to sacrifice herself just so I could come this far to help save you, so let me just protect you!" She rushes off to fight Hokuto alone and Tsukune shouts, "Moka! No!" Reiji notices she's moving a little slower than usual and decides to follow close behind her in case she needs to move quicker than she can right now. Hokuto goes to attack her, but she's able to dodge the attack only taking a small scratch to her shoulder thanks to Reiji pulling her out of the way at the last second. "Stop being so reckless. Think your actions out more before you attack, Moka.", Reiji growls as he helps her dodge another one of Hokuto's attacks. As Reiji and Moka continue to fight Hokuto, Tsukune thinks, "Hokuto and I... We're the same, aren't we? Hokuto and I... We were both human. There's got to be something I can do, some way I can reach him." Reiji manages to catch two of Hokuto's scythe arms, but this leaves Moka defenseless. "No one can stop me! Die, vampire!", Hokuto shouts as he goes to strike down Moka. Before the attack can hit Moka, Tsukune jumps in the way and blocks his attack, catching it before it can dig too deep into his flesh. Tsukune looks up at Hokuto and says, "I already told you, Hokuto... I will stop you!" "Tsukune!", Hokuto shouts with rage filled eyes as he prepares to strike them both down with his last free arm, but Tsukune turns to Moka and nods. She quickly nods back and says, "You're all nuts. You better not blame me for this.", before rushing in to take out Hokuto. "Trash like you... can't possibly stop me. I've put my life on the line for this. You don't have my hunger! You can never defeat me!", Hokuto shouts as he tries to attack Moka. She manages to jump over his attack while saying, "Of course we can. You're all alone, right? And the hope that's been entrusted to us by our friends...is more powerful than your hunger! It's over Hokuto!" As she kicks him straight in his face, she shouts, "Know your place!" Hokuto is sent flying by Moka's full power kick and he asks, "How... How can I lose to you?" "Isn't it obvious? You're all by your lonesome, while we have each other. You never stood a chance, Hokuto.", Reiji explains as he punches Hokuto out of the air straight into the ground.

As Hokuto crashes into the ground and his body goes limp in the crater, Moka says, "I almost feel bad for him. He was like you once, Tsukune, but then someone pumped him full of monster blood, like I did to you. Then that monster blood went wild inside him and he let it. Something you haven't gone through yet. In the end, that's what weakened him." "Why is it... that when I finally meet another human at this academy... I bet if we'd met under different circumstances...I bet we could have been friends.", Tsukune says with a saddened look. Moka and Reiji both sigh at Tsukune's compassion for the enemy before they hear Hokuto laugh to himself and say, "It's too late... Too late for everything..." "Too late? What do you-", Tsukune begins to ask before the alter begins to glow even brighter than the first time. The roof starts to cave in as Hokuto says, "You hear that? That's the sound of annihilation! My plan worked after all and the Great Barrier will be no more! And the curtain... will fall." Reiji easily shatters the rubble that tries to crush him and the others as Moka says, "It's progressing faster than I thought! We've got to find some way to stop this! Now!" "Beating the crap out of him doesn't mean shit if the barrier goes. But, I don't think we can stop it now, not in its current state.", Reiji thinks as he takes a look at the alter and sees that the barrier is almost half way out of energy. They all suddenly hear someone shout, "Don't give up!", and when they turn to see who it is, they see Kurumu, Yukari, Mizore and Ruby. "How the hell did you guys get down here?", Reiji asks, completely shocked by their sudden arrival in this hidden place. "The Headmaster has teleportation tricks of his own. He thought we may be of some help.", Ruby says as she lets Mizore down. Kurumu drops Yukari like dead weight before flying straight into Tsukune and tackling him with a hug as she shouts, "Tsukune! I'm so happy you're safe!" "T-they all came!?", Tsukune thinks as Kurumu hugs him. Yukari looks over alter and says, "A barrier's power supply stems from the energy of a sorcerer. I'm assuming that holds true for even the Great Barrier. Right now, it looks like half its energy has dissipated. But if we all pour our energy back into it... the Great Barrier will be restored." Mizore freezes Kurumu to pull her off Tsukune, who's more than impressed by Yukari's idea and says, "Wow, you're amazing, Yukari!" Kurumu breaks free of the ice as Mizore asks, "So we just release our energy into that alter?" "Can I do it too?", Tsukune asks, which earns him a slap to the back of the head from Reiji, who says, "Yeah, you can if you wanna die! You're running pretty low on monster energy and if you go any harder you'll be dipping into your life energy." "Yeah, you'll die! Just stay back and let us handle this.", Moka says as she shoves him back. Reiji and the girls all put their hands over the Rosary of Judgement and focus their monster energies into the rosary. The barrier begins to rapidly drain their monster energy, draining them of their monster energy and making them pass out one by one. "What's going on!? It feels like...my soul is being pulled into a bottomless pit.", Kurumu says as she struggles to stand on her own. "Perhaps...it's too big for us...", Ruby says as her legs begin to wobble. Yukari starts to close her eyes before lowly sliding down the side of the alter and saying, "I can't go on...gonna pass...out." One by one, they pass out, until only Moka and Reiji remain. Reiji can see that Moka's getting tired and says, "What, you're not getting weak on me, are ya? I'm still going strong." Right after he says that, he reverts back to his human form and the alter launches him back, rejecting him. He manages to catch himself and says, "I guess it doesn't want any of the extra monster energy sealed away in my seals. Guess this is up to you guys now.", before sitting down along side the girls who passed out. "Damn it...", Moka growls as she looks down at the alter. "We're almost there but not quite... We aren't powerful enough...", Moka thinks to herself as she starts to pass out from exhaustion. As she falls, Tsukune catches her in his arms and says, "Don't worry, I got you." "Tsukune, what are you doing?! You can't be thinking of... You're already at the brink..!", Moka says as he sets her down next to the others. "You know you can't stop him. Just try not to die, Tsukune.", Reiji says as he waves him on. Tsukune just smiles and says, "You know, Hokuto said he wanted to end the violence and bring peace to Yokai Academy. I heard him. And deep down, I know he meant it. I'm going to make that dream come true. I'm going to do whatever I can, even if it takes my life." He places his hand over the rosary and starts to share his monster energy with the barrier as Reiji grabs a hold of his ankle to share his monster energy with him if he ran low. "Tsukune, don't die!", Kurumu says as she tries to get up. The girls all try to get up to help him, but can't out of exhaustion. Then they hear Hokuto say, "You loser! Pathetic fool! So naive! You're too soft, Tsukune!" "Oh, so you're still alive over there? I could've swore I broke your neck with that punch earlier, but whatever. You're not a real threat now.", Reiji says as he waves off Hokuto like he's a fly. The rest of the girls move between Tsukune and Hokuto as Kurumu says, "Please! Don't hurt him anymore! All he ever wanted was to help you! Why can't you see that? Why don't you understand!?" Hokuto just pushes them out of the way as he makes his way to Tsukune and Reiji. He stands in front of Tsukune and looks him right in the eyes with a smile on his face. Tsukune smiles back and says, "It's strange... standing face to face like this. You're just like you were when we first met. Do you remember... what you promised me..? Even now.. I believe...you'll keep that promise... someday..." Tsukune starts to fall, but Hokuto holds him up as he puts his hand over Tsukune's. Hokuto laughs to himself and says, "I guess it wasn't dumb luck that let you survive as a human... at a school for monsters." The barrier stops glowing and Hokuto removes the Rosary of Judgement from its keyhole before saying, "You're right. If we'd met under different circumstances...", and passing out in Tsukune's arms after handing him the rosary. "H-Hokuto? Hokuto!", Tsukune shouts as he tries to wake him up, but he's out cold. Tsukune suddenly passes out and Reiji catches both him and Hokuto. Tsukune and Hokuto are taken to the on-campus hospital for their injuries.

The next day, the festival starts and Tsukune and his friends are walking through admiring all the committee's hard work. "Wow, so many visitors! What a great festival!", Kurumu says as she holds onto Tsukune's arm. "After all the craziness... the preparations...and putting out a special edition of the Yokai Times...it all feels like a dream.", Moka says with a smile. "Yeah, a good dream too.", Tsukune adds as he looks around at all the stuff he helped build. The whole group continues to enjoy the festival, until Ruby comes running toward them shouting, "Guys! We have an emergency! It's bad! Really REALLY bad!" "What is it? The Headmaster wants us to do some more hunting in exchange for the privilege of going to school here?", Reiji asks sarcastically. "No, Hokuto and Kiriya have escaped! Kiriya escaped his cell in the dungeon and Hokuto somehow left his hospital room! They could be anywhere!", Ruby shouts, causing the group's eyes to widen in disbelief. "What? They're gone!?", Tsukune asks the witch as he looks to her with a slightly panicked look. "When the doctors last checked, he was in a coma. He must've escaped when the guards were in the middle of switching shifts.", Ruby says with a sad look as she looks down at the ground. "That's a scary thought, but... I'm glad, he regained consciousness.", Tsukune says as his panicked expression turns into a smile. Tsukune looks up to the sky and thinks, "Did I really protect anyone or anything? In the end, I needed to be saved yet again. Even to Hokuto, I'm just a joke..." Suddenly, fireworks start to go off in the sky in multiple beautiful colors. Everyone's amazed and Tsukune says, "I don't remember there being fireworks on the schedule." Reiji laughs and says, "I added them on at the very last second. That's one of the advantages of being one of the two members left on the festival committee." "Good job. These fireworks are amazing!", Yukari proclaims as she looks up at them in amazement. "Everything's all right. And it's all because of you, Tsukune. Because you got through to Hokuto. That's why we get to be here, together watching fireworks like this, Tsukune.", Moka says to the boy with a smile. "Let's go! I bet we can see the fireworks better from the roof!", Moka suggests as she grabs Tsukune by his arm and starts pulling him with her to the roof. "As if I'd just let you go watch fireworks alone with Tsukune! I'm coming too!", Kurumu shouts as she follows close behind. "No, come watch fireworks with me, Tsukune.", Mizore says as she freezes his feet to the ground, causing Kurumu to trip and fall on her face. Ruby follows silently behind as Yukari grabs a hold of Moka's skirt and shouts, "Don't worry Tsukune, we can watch fireworks together, just you, me, and Moka! It'll be romantic~" "We'll just watch them together, just calm down.", Reiji suggests as he pulls everyone off of each other. They all look to one another and nod before walking to the school's roof with smiles on their faces to go watch fireworks together.


	21. Chapter 21: 'Normal' Parents

It's the opening day for the school festival and the Catch A Goldfish stand is a real hit. Perhaps it has something to do with Moka running the stand while wearing only a kimono and sandals. The men start to take pictures of her while asking if they could take pictures and how she got so cute. "Oh my! Class 1-3 is a real hit!", Miss Nekonome says enthusiastically. "Miss Nekonome, some help, please!?", Moka says as the guys keep getting closer and closer to her. "The Goldfish Scoop is the best game ever! No wonder everyone's crowded around it!", Miss Nekonome says as she starts to drool from thinking about all the fish she could get later. As the men get closer and closer, Moka squeals and thinks, "I just felt someone touch my butt! I have to get out of here!" Suddenly a hand cuts its way through the crowd and grabs her arm before pulling her out to freedom. When she looks to see who it is, she sees it's Tsukune! They start running together as he says, "I found someone else to watch the booth! Let's make a run for it!" The men quickly turn from amazed to disappointed when they realize Moka is gone then most try to chase after them, but to no avail. In the crowd of disappointed men, one of the men stood out. He's wearing a black tank top, blue jeans and sneakers with tattoos all over his body. The man sighs and says, "That was a nice ass, but I think I want a little more. I'll find her again."

Tsukune and Moka finally stop running and they see the halls are full of students and adults, all here for the festival. "I can't believe it, hardly any customers all day then you get up there and there's an instant crowd.", Tsukune says as he tries to catch his breath. He looks over the railing a giant hoard of people down there before saying, "I didn't expect so many people to show up. And all in their human forms, just like the rules say. Hard to believe they're all monsters." He remembers what Hokuto said about the festival being a showcase for peace before saying, "Just like Hokuto said..." "Yeah, this is real change of pace for this place.", Reiji says as he walks up behind them. They're both shocked to see Reiji here and Tsukune asks, "Reiji, what are you doing here?" "Well, I've been keeping the peace. Since the Security Committee has been done away with and this place is far too big for all of the Headmaster's G-men and Ruby to cover, he asked me to help keep an eye on everyone.", Reiji explains as he shows them a shiny badge the Headmaster gave him to show he's a temporary enforcer of the rules. "Wow, the Headmaster must really trust you then, Reiji.", Moka says as she looks at the badge with amazement. "I guess, but I have to warn you guys. If you see a guy with long lack hair and a mustache wearing an expensive looking suit, try not to talk to him.", Reiji says as he puts the badge back in his pocket. "Why? Who is he?", Tsukune asks. "He's my father, he's... different. Just try to keep your distance. I have to get back to work.", Reiji says before walking off. "Reiji's father? I wonder what he's like.", Tsukune thinks as he looks through the crowd for him. "Hey Tsukune... Y'know, I've never done it before... Goldfish Scoop I mean. I hardly got to go to fairs as a kid. So I'm so happy... to be here.. with you.", Moka says nervously. "You look really... Um, I mean... The kimono... It looks good on you... Moka.", Tsukune says nervously. When she hears him say that, her face turns a dark red from embarrassment. They both stand there in awkward silence with red faces and frantic heart beats. Moka breaks the silence by saying, "Ts..Tsukune... I wanted to ask you... If you didn't already have plans... We could spend the night together... If you wanted to." They turn to each other and Tsukune goes to say something, but they're cut off by Mizore asking, "Spend the night with you, huh? What exactly did you have in mind, Moka?" They're both shocked by her sudden appearance before she says, "You know the rules!" Tsukune nervously tries to ask, "Mizore?! What...What..." Mizore just waves to him with a slightly blushed face while saying, "Hey Tsukune." She then turns her attention to Moka before saying, "You're no different from the others, are you? One flash of a kimono and you go in heat." "Who are you to talk, stalker!?", Moka shouts before Mizore freezes her solid. "Forget that, I was looking for you, Tsukune. I need to ask a favor of you.", Mizore says as she walks over to Tsukune. She starts tapping her finger tips together nervously while saying, "Okay so... Um, you see... My mother's visiting... And she's been on my case about getting to meet you..." Tsukune tries to break Moka free of her ice prison before asking, "Your mom? Why would your mom want to see me?" When he succeeds, he feels as if someone's watching him and when he turns around, he sees someone watching him from behind a pillar. Through his fear, he thinks, "She's already here! She's been watching us from behind that pillar!" Moka sighs and says, "I guess that's her over there." "I see where Mizore gets it from. They're very similar.", Tsukune say hesitantly. "It's okay mother, you can come out now.", Mizore says as she motions for her mother to come over to them. Mizore then points at Tsukune with her ice claws and says, "This is my boyfriend, Tsukune." "Boyfriend!? What have you been telling her, Mizore!?", Tsukune asks frantically. Mizore sneaks over to his side and whispers into his ear, "Sorry, but could you just play along for now? I kind of slipped and told her we were a couple."

Later, they're sitting outside with Mizore's mother having lunch at one of the food stands. Moka stands off to the side, trying not to get too involved. "What should I do? I can't make her a liar in front of her own mother. This is a nightmare.", Tsukune thinks to himself as he nervously sits there in silence. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Tsurara, Mizore's mother. Tsukune Aono... My daughter told me so much about you...", her mother says with a calm smile. Tsukune looks at Mizore's mother and notices she seems to only be wearing a kimono and sandles like Moka's, but white and blue, and her silver hair is done up in a bun pinned by a shard of ice. She finishes her meal and puts a lollipop in her mouth. "Wow...she's so nice...and elegant..and pale...and beautiful...", Tsukune thinks to himself as he fights off a nosebleed. He looks back at Moka, who has a sad look on her face, and thinks, "I can't do this! I can't pretend Mizore's boyfriend in front of Moka!" "Why does this have to happen? I was in such a good mood too! I was really looking forward to being alone with Tsukune for the night.", Moka thinks as she nervously looks away from them. Tsurara looks over to Moka and asks, "And who is this young and beautiful lady?" Moka blushes and says, "Um.. well.. Actually, I'm..", before Mizore cuts her off by saying, "Oh, her? She's just a stalker. She always follows Tsukune no matter where he goes. Just ignore her." "That would be you!", Moka says under her breath as she grits her teeth. Tsurara takes a drink from her tea before saying, "So, Mister Aono... When do you plan to marry?" "Huh? Marry?", Tsukune asks nervously as he shakes in his seat. "Of course, you are courting my daughter, aren't you?", Tsurara asks with a soft smile. "We aren't even close to that level, Miss Shirayuki. We haven't even kissed yet!", Tsukune replies nervously as he holds up his hands defensively. "So... you're just playing around. Not even considering my daughter's desires, huh?", Tsurara asks as her grip on her cup tightens. The tea suddenly freezes into giant ice claws that reach out to slice at Tsukune as she says, "That kind of thinking is very rude, Mister Aono. I'd suggest you reconsider." "I just didn't want to be too hasty! My parents would kill me if I did something like that to a girl!", Tsukune quickly replies, trying to prove his innocence. "Mother, please stop, you're embarrassing me!", Mizore begs as she places her hand on her mother's shoulder. "It's quite alright, Mizore dear. I just have a few things to say then I'll be on my way to look around the school.", Tsurara says before turning the ice back to tea and taking another sip of it. "What's that mother?", Mizore asks with a confused glance. Tsurara turns to Tsukune with a slight smile and says, "First of all, you have my permission to start courting my daughter, Mister Aono. You'll eventually get married anyways, so you might as well get started on your family while you're young." She then stands up from the table and says, "And you'll be having dinner with me and my daughter later. It'll give us more time to get to know one another." "Dinner?", Tsukune asks nervously before Tsurara leaves, waving back to him and her daughter. Tsukune finally gets a moment to breath before Moka grabs Mizore by her sweater and shouts, "You better start explaining yourself, Mizore! How could you do this!?" "Sorry... One thing just lead to another and I just kind of told her Tsukune was my boyfriend to get her off my back. It's alright though, because he's going to end up with me anyways, right Tsukune?", Mizore replies before turning to Tsukune who seems to be having a mental breakdown. "No, that isn't okay! And who do you think you are calling me a stalker!?", Moka shouts aggressively. As they fight it out, Tsukune hears Kurumu shout, "There you are! I've been looking for you, Tsukune~" He turns around and Kurumu leaps into his arms and wraps her arms and legs around him. "Kurumu? What are you doing!?", Tsukune asks nervously as his face turns a dark red and his nose starts to bleed. She shoves his face into her chest while saying, "What? You were telling these guys that you wanted to hangout with me today, right Tsukune?" She then lets go of him before dropping down and turning to wave someone over to them as she says, "Over here! I finally found him!" Tsukune, confused more than usual, asks, "Kurumu, who are you talking to?", before seeing a woman with long blue hair, like Kurumu's, with large breasts wearing a short red dress with a fluffy matching red overcoat, red heels and matching dark red lipstick walking towards them. "K-kurumu, who's that?", Tsukune asks as he slowly backs away from her. "I'll introduce you! I've been wanting you two to meet for ages! This is my mom!", Kurumu says as she showcases the woman. "Hello, so you must be Tsukune Aono, my daughter's fiance. And those girls must be the girls who you dumped and won't leave you alone.", her mother says as she circles Tsukune to see every part of her daughter's supposed fiance. "Now I'm a fiance!?", Tsukune thinks as he hears the news and Kurumu just winks at him. "First I was a stalker, now I'm a groupie?! How inaccurate can they be?!", Moka thinks in a rage as she clenches her fist in frustration. The mother looks at Tsukune then starts feeling his arms to find that he's actually more muscular than he looks. "W-what are you doing?! Kurumu!", Tsukune says as Kurumu's mother starts lifting up Tsukune's shirt to see that he has six pack abs. "M-Mom! What are you doing to Tsukune!?", Kurumu shouts as she tries to pull her mother off him. She lets go of Tsukune's shirt before saying, "He's better looking than I thought he'd be, Kurumu. You really caught yourself a good one here." She then grabs Tsukune by the chin and bends over so she's eye to eye with him before saying, "You know, my little Kurumu is actually quite inexperienced for a succubus. She hasn't even had her first kiss yet! So if you'd do me a solid and next time you get the chance just grab her, you know just get your hand in there and give her a real good squeeze, that'd be super helpful." "G-grab her? You don't mean...", Tsukune begins to say as his face turns an even darker shade of red and the mother laughs and says, "Aw, you're just so innocent too, huh? That'd explain my daughter's lack of experience then. Well, just make sure you don't wait too long to screw my daughter, alright? Now let's talk about dinner." "How can she go from that to dinner plans!? Kurumu's mother is really something else!", Moka thinks to herself. Kurumu's mother goes to say something, but gets cut off when they hear Tsurara say, "I knew I heard you nearby... Abeha." Kurumu's mother's mood quickly shifts from pleasant to irritated when she hears the snow woman's voice. "Tsurara, it's been a while. Stalk your way into a man's heart yet or are you going to die alone like I said you would years ago?", Abeha asks the mother mockingly. "I had a husband, but he's gone now. I see you haven't changed much from when I last saw you, you're still as slutty as ever. I wouldn't be surprised if you haven't found anything more than one night stands.", Tsurara replies mockingly with a snicker. Abeha gets in her face and shouts, "Yeah, well, at least I was able to have a kid! You probably didn't even find a man willing to put himself in such a cold fish like yourself, Tsurara!" "Actually, I'll have you know, I have a daughter who has a wonderful boyfriend who loves and treasures her!", Tsurara shouts back at her. "Yeah, well my daughter is getting married to her fiance! He's a strong and kind young man and they're going to have beautiful babies together!", Abeha shouts back, trying to one-up the other mother. "I bet this boy you're talking about is nothing more than another one of your lies, Abeha.", Tsurara mocks the succubus with a snicker. "Well, I have proof right here! Here he is, Tsukune Aono! Isn't he a dream, Tsurara?", Abeha replies leaving Tsurara speechless. "Tsukune? I thought you were dating my daughter, Mizore.", Tsurara asks as she forms her ice claws. Abeha gets confused by what she just heard Tsurara say and asks, "Dating your daughter? But, that's impossible, he's my daughter's fiance. Unless..." Then the two mothers both turn to Tsukune and ask, "Are you playing our daughters, Tsukune!?" Tsurara forms ice claws for hands and Abeha extends her nails out like blades as they both glare at Tsukune with the intent to kill him for what they think he did. They both pull their arms back, ready to attack him with their full monster strength, but two hands grab their wrists, stopping their attacks. They turn to see a man wearing an expensive looking suit with long unkempt black hair, and a pencil mustache holding their arms back. He turns his attention from them to Tsukune before saying, "You must be Tsukune Aono. Danger just follows you like a lost pup, doesn't it boy?" "Not to say I'm exactly against random men touching me when they want, but we're kinda in the middle of something right now. So if you could just be a dear and let go of us, that'd be great.", Abeha says as she tries to tug free of the man's grip. "For once we agree on something Abeha. This boy needs to be punished for deceiving our daughters like he did!", Tsurara growls as she tries to also pull her hand away from the man, but fails. The man releases a large wave of monster energy that leaves them and the crowd around them speechless. It's a dark, sinister, and overwhelming monster energy that flows past them like an unrelenting whirlpool. "This monster energy, it's so familiar, but...it can't be...", Moka thinks to herself as she and the other girls stand between the man and Tsukune. "Who are you and how do you know Tsukune?", Kurumu asks as she glares at the man. The man glares at her with cold, evil eyes, causing her, the other girls, and Tsukune to both quiver in fear. He then smiles kindly at them before chuckling and saying, "I had your Headmaster give me some information on all of you. I hope you don't mind, but I wanted to know as much as possible about my son's friends." "Your son? Then you're-", Tsukune begins to nervously ask before the man lets go of the mothers and says, "Yes, I am Reiji Oni's father, but you can call me Cerbero." "Now that my introduction is out of the way, I hope you young girls are willing to come clean to your mothers.", Cerbero adds as he looks over to Mizore and Kurumu. "Come clean? What do you mean?", the two mothers ask as they turn to him with confused looks. Cerbero chuckles to himself before sitting in one of the seats and saying, "You shouldn't be asking me questions." The mothers then turn their attentions to their daughters. "Mom, I'm sorry, but I kind of... lied...a little.", Kurumu says innocently as she hangs her head in shame. "Me too, I just wanted you to stop nagging me about getting a boyfriend, Mother.", Mizore adds as she also hangs her head in shame. "So is this pink haired girl really, Tsukune's real girlfriend!?", the two mothers ask at the same time. This causes Moka and Tsukune both to look at each other awkwardly before their faces go red again. "It's not like that! They're just friends, so I can still marry Tsukune!", Kurumu shouts as she steps between Moka and Tsukune, shoving them away from each other. "You mean I'm going to marry Tsukune and you'll be watching from the sidelines. Tsukune's all mine, Kurumu.", Mizore growls as she grabs Tsukune's left arm. They start to bicker back and forth before they hear Yukari shout, "Hey, there you guys are! Are you guys introducing your parents to Tsukune without me!?" They see Yukari with a woman wearing a witch outfit and a man who looks like a somewhat normal person surprisingly. "Ah, the child genius, Yukari Sendo. It's a pleasure to meet you.", Cerbero says as Yukari gets closer. "Oh, is this Moka's father? He's as elegant as the inner Moka with the outer Moka's smile. I see the resemblance.", Yukari says with a smile. Cerbero laughs and says, "Sorry Muss, but it seems you're mistaking me for someone else. I'm actually Reiji's father, not Moka's." "You're the father of that asshole!? You have to be joking! There's no way he grew up the way he is now with someone like you in his life!", Yukari exclaims, shocked by this turn of events. "He's a bit...troubled, but he's not as bad as you think, honest. Maybe I'll tell you some stories later...over dinner perhaps?", Cerbero suggest as he pats Yukari on her head. "Dinner?", Yukari asks with a slightly red face. "Yes, I was planning on having all of Reiji's little friends and their parents all have dinner together. It's a great way for us all to get to know each other.", Cerbero says as he looks back at the mothers by leaning back in the chair. "Like I'd let her go have fun with her friends after lying to me like she did! You're in big trouble, Mizore!", Tsurara scolds the girl as she glares at Mizore and a small snow storm blows by her. "Yeah, you're in big trouble too young lady! Lying to me and saying you had finally found your destined partner for life, but it's just some...some punk!? What's wrong with you!?", Abeha exclaims as she grabs Kurumu by her yellow vest and shakes her in a rage. "But Mom! He is my destined lover, I swear! These other girls are just attention hungry and Tsukune's just too nice to tell them to back the fuck off!", Kurumu says, trying to defend Tsukune. "Ladies, ladies, I think I have a solution to this problem. We could bring our children and tell humiliating stories about them. Think about how embarrassing it'll be for them.", Cerbero suggests with an evil grin on his face. "Maybe that'd be the best punishment for you. Let's see if he's still your destined partner after I embarrass you to death right in front of him.", Abeha says as she takes Kurumu away. "Let's go Mizore. If he can take your most embarrassing stories, then maybe I'll reconsider letting him marry you.", Tsurara says before dragging Mizore off with her ice claws. "What about you, Miss Sendo? You won't mind joining in on telling stories with us over dinner, would you?", Cerbero asks her with somewhat hypnotic eyes. Yukari's mother happily nods and Cerbero smiles to the woman and says, "Wonderful! Now where's my son? I thought he would've sensed me and came running to check on his friends." They all feel Reiji's monster energy spike behind them before he asks, "What trap are you trying to lure them into now, Cerbero?" Cerbero chuckles to himself and says, "Trap? It's just dinner. And where have you been? You missed two angry moms nearly killing Tsukune one moment and then switching their aim to their daughters at the last second." "Stop trying to be sneaky, you've never been good at it. Now tell me what you're planning.", Reiji says as he glares at Cerbero. "You'll have to come and see for yourself if you want to figure out what exactly I'm doing, son.", Cerbero says to him with a smile. Cerbero gets up from his chair and walks by Reiji while saying, "Now, I'm going to talk with your Headmaster. I'll be seeing you all around sunset for dinner. Later." He starts walking before a red swirling portal appears in front of him and he goes through it like it was there the whole time then it disappears into thin air. Yukari, Moka and Tsukune rub their eyes before looking again to see if they really saw what they just saw. "So, what did I miss this time?", Reiji asks, ignoring Cerbero's exit. Moka and Tsukune explain what happened a moment ago and Yukari introduces her parents to the group. Reiji groans, irritated that Cerbero put him in this situation, before saying, "Fine, we'll have to do what he wants, for now. I'm still not sure what the hell he wants or why he's doing this, but it can't be good." Moka quickly turns away from them and storms off without a word, confusing everyone. "What got into her?", Reiji asks with a raised eyebrow as he watches Moka run away.

As Moka storms off through the crowd, the same man from earlier who grabbed her ass notices her walking off by herself. "There's that hot piece of ass from the Goldfish Scoop booth.", the man says with a sadistic smile. "Really? You sure?", one of his friends asks as he turns to look, but can't find her. "Yeah, I'd remember that sweet, sweet ass anywhere. I think I'm gonna get me a piece of that. You guys can have these ones here.", the man says before following Moka.

It's getting close to sunset and Moka is standing on the roof by herself. "Man, I was so close to having Tsukune to myself for once, but yet again, it's all ruined. Why can't I ever get a moment alone with Tsukune, for once? It's so unfair!", Moka thinks to herself as she looks down at the crowds of people across the school. She turns her back to the railing and slides down it to the floor until her face is in her knees. "At least I won't have to spend another fair alone. That's an improvement, I guess.", Moka says to herself with a slight smile. She suddenly hears the door handle to the door to the roof jiggle as if someone was trying to get up there. "Wait, is that... Tsukune? Did he come up here to spend some time with me before we go to dinner?", Moka thinks as she gets up and straightens her kimono. She goes to open the door, but suddenly it swings open and the man with the tattoos grabs her face, covering her mouth with his large hand. "All alone, huh? A hot looking fox like yourself? On nights like this, don't you need someone to give you all their 'love?'", he says to her as he takes her right arm and pins it behind her back as he moves behind her. He drags her across the roof to a wall before pinning her arms against it and smelling her neck. "You don't want to do this! I'll scream! I'll do it!", Moka says as she tries to break free of his grasp, but can't. He just laughs and says, "Scream as much as you want, nobody's coming to save ya tonight. There's a festival going on down there. All everyone's concerned about is having fun." "Tsukune! Somebody! Save me!", Moka thinks to herself before the guy grabs her by her chin with his free hand and says, "Damn, the more I look the hotter you get! How about we see what's under that kimono of yours?" He quickly grabs a hold of her kimono and tries to pull it off, but she manages to break free of his grasp and cover herself up with what's left of her slightly torn kimono. "Now don't fight back. It's just getting started and I'd rather not have to bloody such a hottie up, but if I have to, I'll do it!", he says as he goes to grab her crotch. But before he can touch her again, he's met with an elbow to the spine from Tsukune in his vampire form. The man goes flying across the rooftop as Tsukune shouts, "You keep your hands off Moka!" "And go to hell and die, you piece of shit!", Reiji shouts as he punches the man from the roof deep into the forest. "Tsukune! Reiji!", Moka shouts through her tears. "You two always have trouble on your asses. How the hell do you two even function on your own?", Reiji asks sarcastically as he watches the man go through the forest. "Are you alright Moka!? He didn't hurt you, did he?!", Tsukune asks as he notices her torn kimono. "Yeah, but how did you know where to find me?", she replies as she tries desperately to cover herself up to keep Tsukune from seeing her like she was. Tsukune takes off his overcoat and throws it over her shoulders before saying, "Reiji was following a suspicious looking guy while I was looking for you. When we met at the stairs to find who we were looking for, we guessed what he was doing and rushed up to stop him." "You should probably get changed. Cerbero won't be able to resist the urge to mock you if you go dressed like that.", Reiji suggests as he walks over to them. "We sensed a couple large spikes in monster energy! What's going on!?", Kurumu shouts as she, Mizore and Yukari all bust through the door to the stairs. They see the broken railing and Moka's torn kimono before Yukari shouts, "Is everyone okay? What the heck happened?" "One of the alumni was causing trouble, but we dealt with it. Now let's get Moka some real clothes so she doesn't look like this at dinner.", Reiji says as he looks over at the other girls. The girls crowd around Moka to help cover the holes in the kimono that Tsukune's coat didn't. "Don't worry Moka, we'll help you out.", Yukari says as she and the other girls take her away. "Who the hell was that guy anyways?", Reiji asks as he looks out to where he thinks the guy might've finally stopped after he hit him. "I don't know. He definitely isn't a student. Those tattoos looked a bit eerie. Do you think he might've been in a gang or something?", Tsukune says before turning to Reiji. Reiji just shrugs and says, "He's probably dead now, so we probably shouldn't be worrying so much about it." Reiji just starts walking off after saying that and Tsukune rushes to catch up with him, trying not to be left alone at a time like this.

Later, Tsukune and Reiji are standing together at the front gates with Cerbero, waiting for the girls to show up. The sun begins to set as they hear Kurumu shout out, "Tsukune! We're coming Tsukune! Just wait a second, okay!?" They turn to see all the girls with their parents. Kurumu and Abeha are both wearing red silky dresses and more than a fair amount of makeup. Yukari and her parents are wearing their usual clothes. Mizore and Tsurara are both wearing kimonos, Mizore's being white with a purple ribbon around her waste and Tsurara's being white with a blue ribbon. Moka is dressed in a dark red, silky dress with matching heels and purse with the perfect amount of makeup. "Moka! She looks amazing! I didn't think she could look any better, but it looks like I've been proven wrong!", Tsukune thinks as he starts to get a nosebleed. "So, what do you think, Tsukune? It was worth the wait, right? Do you like my new dress? My mom and I picked it out just for tonight.", Kurumu asks him as she shows off her new dress. "What about my outfit Tsukune? My mother brought it as a gift, but she didn't expect I'd be using it so soon.", Mizore says as she walks up to him with Kurumu. "You both look great! But, where exactly are we having dinner, Cerbero?", Tsukune says to help change the subject. Cerbero laughs to himself and says, "We'll be dinning at our mansion, right Reiji?" "Mansion?", all the girls asks in confusion. "What? He didn't tell you? I'm the second highest ranked member of the Underworld's military. That means that we have more than our fair share of wealth and power.", Cerbero replies with a grin on his face as a portal forms behind him. He turns around and motions for them to follow him as he walks through the port, and they do. As they walk through the portal, they end up in a large room in front a large set of stairs. Cerbero continues through the mansion as if it was any other day before saying, "This is it, our little home." "It's not exactly little. We don't even use all the rooms in this place.", Reiji replies as they all follow Cerbero and Reiji through the hallways. "So you're a high ranking general then? I would've taken you for a lawyer from how you dress, Cerbero.", Abeha says as she places her hand on his shoulder. "Stop flirting Abeha, you're always so desperate. He's probably a married man. You might be a slut, but don't make yourself a home wrecker too.", Tsurara says mockingly. "What did you just call me!? Tsurara, you...", Abeha begins to say before Cerbero chuckles to himself and says, "Actually, I'm still single. I haven't even had a wife before." "Wait, if you never had a wife, then how did you get stuck with Reiji? Did his mom dump you and run off, leaving you with Reiji?", Kurumu asks him. "Maybe he's like an experiment for super soldiers and Cerbero is his mentor or something?", Yukari says as she elbows Kurumu's side and raises her eyebrows. "Actually, I adopted Reiji at a young age. He lost his parents in an accident and I just so happened to have the space, so...", Cerbero starts to say before Reiji says, "It's all in the past, it doesn't matter that much." Cerbero just smiles and says, "I guess it doesn't now, does it?", before they reach what looks like a large dinning room with a large circular table big enough to seat all of them and more if they needed. They all look to see there are fancy wedding like papers with their names on them. Everyone has one with their name on it, except Cerbero. "I went to the trouble of organizing everyone's seats ahead of time, so there wouldn't be any fight over who sits where. Now, if you'd all take your seats, we'll get to dinner.", Cerbero says as he takes his seat at the head of the table. Everyone slowly finds their seats and sit down to wait for whatever Cerbero had planned next for them. Cerbero looks around the table and waits for everyone to get comfortable in their seats before snapping his fingers and saying, "Dinner is on its way." Suddenly, multiple butlers and maids come through the kitchen doors with large silver dishes, all of which are covered with large matching lids. The butlers and maids quickly set the table with plates, glasses, cutlery, and then the food. As all the trays of food are set, their lids are lifted and everyone sees the amazing meal made for them. They see many large plates that fill up the table with weird looking meals that none of them have ever seen before, except for Cerbero and Reiji. The butlers and maids leave as quickly as they arrived before Cerbero says, "Let's eat!" Reiji and Cerbero begin to fill their plates as everyone else doesn't seem to know what to do. "What's wrong? Don't be shy, eat as much as you want! Enjoy yourselves! There's more than enough food to go around.", Cerbero says to the group with a smile. "But, what even is this stuff?", Yukari asks as she pokes a giant purple ham like thing with a fork. "They're meals that probably cost more than they're worth. They're not going to kill you, just try them.", Reiji says as he takes a piece of the meat with the fork and drops it on his plate. The group begins to pick up pieces of food and add them to their plates before trying them at random. As they try the food, they find out that it doesn't taste too bad and most of it tastes slightly better than normal food. "Wow, this actually tastes pretty good.", Kurumu says with her mouth half full of food. "Yeah, this is the best dinner I've had in a long time.", Abeha adds with her mouth also stuffed with food. Tsurara sighs and says, "As always, you never seem to have any manors, do you Abeha?" Abeha quickly swallows her food and shouts, "What did you just say about me, Tsurara!?" "Your manors are nonexistent. I'm surprised you can even call yourself a lady.", Tsurara says with a smug look on her face. They both glare at each other until they hear the clanking of a fork against a glass. They turn to see Yukari's mom making the noise. "What is it, Fujiko?", Abeha asks as they look to her with confused looks. She just looks to them then back to the table with a smile and this seems to calm them down. "She's right, we haven't seen each other in ages. We should just put this rivalry aside and just have a good time.", Abeha says as she fixes her dress and sits back down in her seat. "I guess we can put our differences aside for this one night. We have nothing to be competitive about anymore, right?", Tsurara says with a slightly less fake smile. "Yeah, nothing at all.", Abeha says before they both look to their daughters with a smile. They both suddenly realize that their daughters are both staring at Tsukune. The two moms suddenly glare at each other as their rivalry is reborn. "So Tsukune, since you lied to my face earlier about being my daughter's boyfriend, how about you tell me something.", Tsurara says with a slight glare at him. "W-what's that?", Tsukune asks nervously as he drops his fork on his plate. "You are still interested in my daughter, correct?", she asks with a harsher glare than usual. Tsukune stumbles to say something, but before he can, Abeha says, "Why would he? He has my voluptuous Kurumu! Why would he need your daughter when he already has mine, right Tsukune?" He begins to nervously sweat as he tries to answer her, but Tsurara cuts him off by shouting, "No, your daughter's just a little hussy like you, Abeha! Just because she flashes her tits and ass at the boy doesn't mean he's going to marry her!" "At least my daughter has something to flash! Compared to my daughter, your's is as flat as a board.", Abeha says with a scoff. Yukari cries on the inside and thinks, "If Mizore's flat, then what does that make me? Concave?" Fujiko taps on her glass again, but they don't even seem to notice her. Tsurara forms her ice claws and says, "I'll deal with you here and now, Abeha!" Abeha quickly extends her nails and says, "Bring it, Ice Bitch!", as they prepare to attack each other. "Mom! Stop!", Kurumu shouts and Mizore shouts, "Mother, stop this!" The two mothers clash, causing a massive explosion from their colliding monster energies! The table shatters to pieces and food goes everywhere as they continue to fight. Tsurara whips up a blizzard through the room as Abeha flies up with her wings, ready to dive-bomb her. "We have to do something! If we don't, they'll destroy Reiji's and Cerbero's house!", Tsukune says frantically. Cerbero just laughs and says, "Ah, that was a good joke, Tsukune. But I think I have this all under control." Chains bust through the floor, wrapping around Tsurara and Abeha before pulling them down to their knees and forcing them back into their human forms. "What the!? What's going on!?", Abeha shouts as she tries to fight the chains, but the chains just keep holding her down. "My body...it feels so...heavy...", Tsurara says as she also tries to fight the chains and fails. Cerbero gets up from his seat and says, "Those are chains we use to subdue The Underworld's most dangerous prisoners with. They're quite effective, don't you think?" He walks over to them and says, "You two need to stop acting like such children. I'm not saying be an uptight bitch, but at least be more responsible than this. You two even managed to blow up my favorite dinner table." Reiji sighs and adds, "You hated that table. The only reason you considered it your favorite was only because that was the only dinner table you bothered to get." Cerbero turns to him and frantically says, "That's just because I'm always working and never have anyone to invite over for dinner!" He suddenly realizes he's losing his usual calm and collected form and fakes a cough before returning to his natural state and saying, "Besides, they did in fact destroy my table. Now dinner might just be ruined." Reiji sighs again and snaps his fingers, causing more butlers and maids to come in with a table just like the first one. The maids quickly sweep away the old table as the butlers place and setup the new one. Cerbero just sighs and says, "Well that sure does defeat my point." He turns his attention to the two moms chained to the floor and waves his hands, causing the chains to unwrap themselves and return into the ground. He heads back to his seat while saying, "Come on, let's get back to dinner." The two mothers then glare at each other, but before they can threaten each other, Cerbero says in a frightening, demonic voice, "And if you ruin any other part of my home, I'll do far worse than chain you to my floor." He then releases a large wave of monster energy that scares everyone except Reiji. It's a dark black monster energy that overwhelms even Inner Moka's monster energy. His monster energy quickly subsides as he begins to cough like he was choking on air. "Ah, sorry about that. My inner demon gets out sometimes. Please, have a seat. We'll get some more food on the table here shortly.", Cerbero says with a smile as he motions for Tsurara and Abeha to take their seats at the table. They do as he asks afraid that if they try anything else, they'd be turned to ash.

Dinner goes on as planned, without any other outbursts except for the mothers telling embarrassing stories about their daughters when they were younger. After dinner is over and Cerbero leads everyone back to the main gates, he looks down at his watch and sees the time before saying, "Would you look at the time? I have to go back to work here in a bit. It was nice having guests over for once." He turns his attention to Reiji and says, "I'll see you later, Reiji." Reiji just nods to him before Cerbero creates another portal and walks through it before it vanishes. The two mothers let out a sigh of relief and turn to each other with concerned looks. "I thought we were gonna die back there.", Abeha says with a relieved face. "Yeah, one wrong move and he probably would've just sent us to the center of the earth or something.", Tsurara says with a slightly worried look still on her face. Fujiko taps both their shoulders and when they turn around, she hugs both of them and squeezes them tight. "Fujiko! We get it!", Abeha squeals as she feels her ribs breaking. "Yeah, we'll try not to worry you so much, okay?", Tsurara adds as she feels her spine begin to shatter like glass. Fujiko lets go of both of them and they gasp for air. Tsurara turns to Mizore and says, "Mizore dear, I have to go now. And next time I see you, you better not lie to me about having a boyfriend!" Abeha then turns her attention to Kurumu and says, "Kurumu, you better not lose this fight. You understand?" The two girls nod to their mothers before they realize it's time for them to go. They say goodbye to the crazy parents as they walk off to the buses. "I bet your parents are twice as bad as Cerbero, Moka.", Reiji says to her with a grin. "Well, my father isn't too bad. Hopefully you all will get to meet him one day." "I'm more interested in seeing Tsukune's parents! Next time we're in the human world, you have to introduce me to your parents Tsukune!", Kurumu says as she grabs a hold of Tsukune's arm. "Why would he introduce you to his parents? He isn't going to marry you, he's marrying me, right Tsukune?", Mizore says as she grabs his other arm. "I want to meet your parents too, Tsukune!", Yukari says as she grabs his leg. Reiji sighs and says, "You're all such a pain."


	22. Chapter 22: The Visitor

It's the second day of the festival and another set of buses are coming in, full of alumni and other students' family members. But when one of the buses arrives, a person rushes off the bus to see Yokai off in the distance. It's a black haired girl with light brown eyes, wearing a red jacket over a white shirt, a black skirt held up by a white belt and matching black boots. She looks off at Yokai Academy and says, "This place really is suspicious. It just reeks of suspicious." She then looks down at the envelope in her hands and says, "I need to get this to him, but only after I figure out what this place really is."

Back at the school, the festival continues and Tsukune, Moka and Reiji are walking together through the main court yard. Moka and Tsukune are enjoying ice cream cones while Reiji enjoys an ice pop. "Wait, you have sisters?", Tsukune asks her in disbelief. She nods and says, "Yeah, didn't I tell you? I'm the third of four girls. Two older ones and one younger one." "They're probably as bad as you are, Moka.", Reiji jokingly replies, to which the girl gets a slight snicker. "I had no idea! You never really talk about your family.", Tsukune says, still dazzled by the amount of sisters she has. "I'm glad she has a family... But none of them even showed up for the festival or Cerbero's dinner..." "What about you Reiji? Any brothers or sisters?", Moka asks as she looks to the demon boy with a curious smile. "No, I'm an only child. Didn't have too many friends either. But I did have one friend named Heiwa, she was kind of like my polar opposite twin sister if I had to describe her. That was years ago though.", he replies as he thinks back on his childhood. Moka turns to Tsukune and asks, "What about you Tsukune? I bet you have some really cool siblings, right?" Tsukune laughs and says, "I'm actually an only child too. I have an older cousin though, back in the human world. She's like an older sister to me." "That's the first I've heard of her. What's she like?", Moka says with a curious look on her face. "Her name is Kyoko. She lives in my neighborhood, so we were basically raised together. She's two years older than me and is kind of ditsy, but she's always taken good care of me and was always the shoulder I went to cry on. My father is kind of a flake and my mother is, different." "What does she look like? Does she have the crazy Harem Diseases you have?", Reiji asks, joking about the last part. "She kind of has a cute tomboy look to her, she pulls it off pretty well.", Tsukune says after chuckling at the last part of Reiji's question. He turns and sees the girl from earlier in the story and says, "Kind of like that girl, especially in the hair. In fact, now that I look at her, exactly like that girl..." The girl looks to Tsukune and says, "Tsuki?" "Tsuki?", they all think in confusion. Tsukune realizes what that means and shouts, "Kyo!?", in disbelief. "Kyo?!", Reiji and Moka think in the confusion, surprised by the sudden nicknames. Kyoko rushes to Tsukune and hugs him as she shouts, "Tsuki!" "Tsuki, you're safe! I was so worried!", Kyoko shouts as she tightens her hold on him. "Kyo, what are you doing here!? Why!?", Tsukune asks frantically as she nearly strangles him to death. "What did you expect..?! I've been looking everywhere for you! You never wrote to me, you never called me once, nothing! You used to never leave my side... You couldn't do anything without me...", Kyoko says as she starts to tear up. "Umm, Kyoko...", Tsukune says as he tries to get her to calm down. She starts to ball her eyes out as she shouts, "We even took baths together! How could you do this to me, Tsuki!?" "Kyoko, please! My friends are right here!", Tsukune says as his face turns a bright red from embarrassment. Reiji starts to chuckle to himself before Moka elbows him and gives him a glare. "Friends? You finally made some friends?", Kyoko asks before looking up to see Moka and Reiji standing there. "Yeah, this is Reiji Oni and Moka Akashiya.", Tsukune says as he points to them as he says their names. "You're lying! No way my Tsuki is friends with such a pretty girl!", Kyoko says as she points at Moka. "Damn, so this is your cousin? She's tougher than I thought she'd be.", Reiji says with a slight grin. She looks at Reiji with a mesmerized look before shaking her head and returning to reality. "What the heck is wrong with this school Tsuki!? This school isn't on any maps! The address on the letter from the school just lead to a creepy abandoned building!" "Then...how did you get here?", Moka asks with a slightly raised eyebrow. "When I went to the building, a mailman told me that the address was changed and that he could point me in the right direction and told me that I could easily get in since some sort of festival was going on.", Kyoko explains. "What kind of mailman does that!? You can't tell me that isn't suspicious! You had me so worried!", she shouts as she points at him aggressively with the envelope in her hand. "This is bad! Humans aren't even supposed to be here! If someone figured out that she's human, she'd be killed! I can't let anyone figure her out and I most definitely can't let her figure out this is a school for monsters!", Tsukune thinks to himself as he begins to panic. "Now that I'm here, I'm going to take a good look around and see what this school is all about. And if I find anything remotely odd about this place, I'm taking you straight home!", Kyoko shouts as she snooping around. Tsukune and Moka are both baffled by what they hear and Reiji just sighs and says, "You can't just go poking your nose around the school, you'll get yourself in way too much trouble. You're technically not even allowed here since you're not his parent. Just stick with us and we'll try to show you around." "Fine, but I'm leading the way!", Kyoko shouts trying to take the wheel. "No. I'm leading the way. If you don't like it, we can easily send you back where you came from. One word to a faculty member and you'll be shipped off on the next bus back home.", Reiji says as he looks down at her. "Come on, at least let her steer a little.", Moka says to him, trying to get on Kyoko's good side. Reiji gives her a death stare before saying, "I'll let her choose where we start. If she plays nice, maybe I'll let her drive." He turns his attention to Kyoko and asks, "Where do you want to go first? Do you want to check out the festival or something?" "Is he asking me out!? What... what do I do!? He's so cute and...", she begins to think before she nervously says, "Y-yeah, let's start there." "Good, follow us, and don't run off. The last thing we need is you getting yourself lost.", Reiji says as he starts leading her to the school. As Reiji and Kyoko start heading off, Tsukune whispers to Moka, "What should we do!? We can't let her figure out Yokai is a school for monsters!" "We'll just have to keep her away from the crazy people here and try to avoid any fights.", Moka whispers back as they start following Reiji and Kyoko.

They head inside the school and Kyoko sees all the people and stands full of games and displays. "This place sure is lively.", Kyoko says as she looks around. "Yeah, it sure is! And you should be enjoying it! How about I buy us some snacks?", Tsukune says trying to distract her from the odd balls around them. "Maybe it's a bit too lively. This is pretty suspicious...", Kyoko says as she squints around looking for something out of place. Tsukune sighs and says, "You haven't changed at all, have you, Kyoko?" Reiji just looks around and says, "Maybe you're overthinking things, Kyoko? It just looks like people trying to have a good time and avoid work to me." "Unlikely, normal people don't act like, this. Something is definitely off here.", Kyoko says as she watches a couple guys knocking each other around like ragdolls like it was nothing. "Those idiots? They're just a bunch of empty headed jocks. They wail on each other on a daily basis. You should see them when they're actually angry.", Reiji explains as he points at them. "Really? Well, I guess that explains that, but-", Kyoko begins to ask before she's cut off by Kurumu shouting, "There you are!" Kurumu tackles Tsukune in her maid outfit as she shouts, "I've been looking for you, Tsukune~" "K-kurumu!?", Tsukune shouts as she shoves his face into her cleavage. Kurumu quickly lets go of him and starts to lift her skirt while saying, "Like my outfit? Our class is doing a unit on maids! I gave the old girl a quick update and now she's even more fan servicey than before! Guys all over apparently love maids!" "T-tsuki!? Who's this girl!?", Kyoko shouts in confusion. "Tsuki? Do you know this girl, Tsukune? I don't think I've seen her around before. Don't tell me we have another stalker! That'd be so annoying!", Kurumu says as she turns her attention to Kyoko with fire in her eyes. "No, it's not like that at all! She's my cousin, Kyoko!", Tsukune says trying to calm Kurumu down. "Ohhhh, okay. Nice to meet you, I'm Kurumu Kurono. Tsukune's g-", Kurumu begins to say before Moka covers her mouth and finishes her sentence by saying, "She's one of his closest friends! Tsukune has a LOT of good friends here at Yokai, right Kurumu?" "I guess... This is a bit suspicious though...", Kyoko says as she squints at Kurumu's outfit. Yukari comes out of nowhere, shouting, "Kurumu! I finished making that choker you wanted for your outfit!" Yukari suddenly stops as she's just about to give Kurumu the choker and notices Kyoko. "Another weirdo? Well if you're going to be part of this group, you better bring something new to the table.", Yukari says as she looks at Kyoko with a raised eyebrow. "Yukari, this apparently is Kyoko, Tsukune's cousin.", Kurumu says to her. "Incest? Not exactly my fetish, but I guess it has to be someone's, right?", Yukari says with a shit eating grin on her face. "Incest!?", Tsukune and Kyoko shout in a panic. "Yukari is a bit, over imaginative sometimes. I just have to talk to her real quick about a school project we've been working on. We'll be right back, okay?", Moka says as she covers Yukari's mouth and drags her off into a broom closet. As soon as Moka shuts the door, Moka says, "What's wrong with you!? You can't say something like that to Tsukune's cousin! She doesn't even know this place is a school for monsters!" "You guys were serious about the whole cousin thing!? I thought she had some sort of weird kink that I wasn't told about or something! She's actually his cousin!?", Yukari says frantically, just now realizing Kurumu was actually telling the truth. "Now help us keep her from figuring us out. Because if she finds any reason to, she'll take Tsukune away from us.", Moka explains to her. Yukari nods her head in response and they both quickly return to the group, who seem to be trying to keep Kyoko from asking Kurumu questions about her 'relationship' with Tsukune. "Hey friends! What brings you to our school, Kyoko? Did you want to check out our club room?", Yukari says trying not to be suspicious. "Wow, she's so young and short! Does Yokai have other schools nearby or something for younger students?", Kyoko says as she notices how young Yukari is compared to the other students. Yukari starts to fill with rage and anger, but before it can boil over, she takes a deep breath and as she lets it out, she seems to calm down. "Correct, I am fairly young, but I am actually in the same grade as Tsukune and the others. I just skipped a few grades because I'm a genius.", Yukari says with a fake smile. "So you're a child prodigy, and they just let you skip like, three grades?", Kyoko asks with a skeptical look on her face. "Yep, she's actually ranked number one in our class, right Yukari?", Kurumu says as she pats her back. Yukari just nods and Tsukune says, "How about we just head to our class' booth? We have a gold fish scoop game that you might enjoy." "Hmm, I guess I could check out where Tsuki has class. Maybe I can even get to meet some of his teachers?", Kyoko says with a slight smile. Tsukune leads the way to their class booth after saying, "I'll show you the way. Just stay close and don't wander off."

They follow Tsukune to their booth, where Mizore's working in her kimono from yesterday. She looks up and sees Kyoko before saying, "Found another one, Tsukune? Isn't it a little late in the book to be adding in people?" "I'm just warning you now, if you get to close to Tsukune, I'll-", Mizore begins to say as she starts to form her ice claws and freeze the kiddie pool, but gets cut off as a book seems to miraculously fall from a shelf and land on her head, knocking her out cold. "Oh no, a book just fell on Mizore's head! Reiji, make sure she's alright!", Yukari says in a slightly suspicious tone. Reiji drags Mizore behind some curtains to check on her in private as Yukari tries desperately to hide her magic wand behind her back so Kyoko won't figure out what she just did. "What the hell was that for?", Mizore asks as she rubs her head. "That's Tsukune's cousin and you just about blew everyone's cover as normal students at a normal school. We need to keep the mirage up until she leaves, got it?", Reiji explains as he peeks out from behind the curtain to the rest of the group. When the coast is clear, he helps her up to her feet, and they hear Kyoko shout, "You think you can hide this from me? I know what this school is about now, Tsuki!" They go out to see Tsukune waving his hands defensively as he asks, "What do you mean!?" "It all adds up! No wonder you wanted to keep this place a secret from me, but I figured it out!", Kyoko says confidently. "A hidden school not on any map, literally no entrance exams, a cute pink haired girl, a guy who seems to smell like cigarettes, a girl dressed as a maid, a young girl dressed like a witch, and a girl who plays with ice. It's all so plain as day now! Anyone can see that this school is really...", she begins to say as they all prepare for her to shout about this being a school for monsters and how she's never letting Tsukune come back ever again. "Perverts! My sweet innocent Tsuki has been corrupted by this Kinky School!", she shouts accusingly. They all nearly die from disbelief and Yukari even faints from her raw stupidity. "W-what?", Tsukune asks as he's still shaking from what he just heard. "I read about these kinds of places in a manga once! There's no doubt about it, this is exactly how they showed it, to a T.", Kyoko says as she blushes from embarrassment. She quickly points to the girls and shouts, "I should've known the second I heard these girls were so interested in you, Tsuki! You could never get a girl to like you back home, so you decided to stay here instead!? Or was it because you couldn't get into any other school!?" She then grabs him by his wrist and says, "It doesn't matter now, I'm taking you home right this instant! I'm gonna be telling Auntie all about this place when we get home Tsuki and she'll never let you come back here ever again!" "She sure does jump to conclusions.", Mizore says with a confused look on her face. "In the end, it all ends the same I guess.", Yukari says in a saddened tone. "No! Don't leave Tsukune!", Kurumu shouts as she tries to run to his side. Kyoko just starts dragging him off while saying, "Oh no you don't! I'm taking him home right now! Come on Tsuki, the buses are waiting!"

She gets to the bus stop and there aren't any buses there yet to take her and Tsukune home. Reiji and the others arrive to try to stop her, but she just says, "Don't even bother, I'm not changing my mind! Tsuki is coming home with me and that's that!" "Nobody's goin' anywhere.", a familiar voice says before they hear a mechanical click. They turn to see the gang member from yesterday standing there with a gun pointed at them and a grin on his face. "It's that guy from yesterday on the roof!", Moka says in disbelief. "Ah, the girl from the other day. I've been looking for you. Can't just let a hot piece of ass like yourself slip through my fingers, can I?", he says as he waves the gun around carelessly. He turns his eyes to Reiji and Tsukune as Reiji says, "You came back for another ass kicking? Guys like you never learn, do you?" The gun goes off and Reiji falls to the group as blood spills from his chest. As his body hits the ground, the gangster begins to laugh maniacally. "That's for yesterday you asshole!", he shouts as his grin grows across his face. Moka turns to Tsukune and says, "Tsukune, get Kyoko out of here! We'll deal with this guy." "B-but-", Tsukune begins to say before Kurumu says, "We don't have time for this! Just go!" Tsukune just nods before picking up Kyoko in his arms and quickly dashing off with some help from his vampire blood. "See, I told you that this place was dangerous! I'm taking you home as soon as a bus shows up!", Kyoko says as she looks up at Tsukune. She notices he's crying to himself while muttering, "He's okay. He's okay." "Tsuki?", she asks in confusion. He suddenly stops when they hear four more gun shots back where Moka and the others were. "I have to go back. Just wait here, I'll come back for you.", Tsukune says as he lets Kyoko down so she can stand on her own. "B-but you can't! That gangster will kill you Tsuki! He has a gun!", Kyoko yells at him as he grabs his arm, stopping him from going back. "Kyoko, I'm really glad I came here, to Yokai Academy.", he says as he grabs her hand with his. He removes her grip and moves that hand to her other one as he says, "It's true, this place might be dangerous, but every day is an adventure. I have a lot of great friends here, true friends I believe I could have for the rest of my life. And now, they need me more than ever." He starts to walk away from her as he says, "So, please, don't ask any more questions and just let me go." As he runs back to his friends, Kyoko thinks, "I've never seen Tsuki stand up for anything like that before. I guess he really has grown."

When he gets back to where his friends were, he sees his friends all safe from harm and Reiji standing over the gangster's limp body. "R-reiji? You're-", Tsukune begins to say before Reiji starts to cough up blood into his free hand. "I took more damage from that bullet than I thought. Fucking bastard thinking he can just shoot me like that.", Reiji says as he points the gun down at the gangster. He pulls the trigger, but as the hammer comes down, it doesn't go off. The gun is out of ammunition. "B-but you got shot. How didn't you die?", Tsukune asks in disbelief. "It'll take more than some bullets to kill me, though he came pretty damn close. Another inch or two to the right and I probably would've died.", Reiji explains as he starts walking over to the girls. He starts to stumble and Moka and Mizore catch him before he has a chance to fall. "We need to get him to a doctor, quick!", Mizore says as she turns to Tsukune. Tsukune nods and he takes the gun out of Reiji's hands before something bad happens with it. "What happened!?", they hear Kyoko shouts as she arrives on the scene. She sees Reiji bleeding, the gangster on the ground and the gun in Tsukune's hand. "T-tsuki!?", she asks as she points at the gun in his hand. "No! This gun doesn't belong to-", he begins to say in a panic before she cuts him off by saying, "Just...stop. I don't want to hear any more lame explanations." As they all wait to hear her yell about taking Tsukune home again, she surprises them by saying, "You said... not to ask anymore questions, right?" They all look to her with surprised looks as she says, "The way you said that back there, it was so serious. I could tell you had a good reason behind it. I never heard you talk like that before. And if you truly believe this is the path you want to live, it's yours to walk." She looks off to the distant sunset as she says, "Well, it's getting late. I'll tell Auntie that you're doing well." "Hey, what's with that envelope? Were you supposed to do something with it or something?", Tsukune asks her as he points to the envelope in her hand. "I forgot I even had this thing!", Kyoko replies as she looks at the envelope. She looks down at the envelope and says, "Someone was supposed to come for the envelope, but nobody ever did. How strange." "I wonder what's inside.", Tsukune says as he walks over to her to get a better look. The ground begins to tremble and Kyoko says, "What? An earthquake?" "That's no earthquake.", Reiji says with a slightly annoyed look on his face as he looks over his shoulder. They all look where he's looking and Tsukune says, "You've got to be kidding me... Of all the times." A giant frog monster is hopping toward them, and it's approaching rapidly. "W-what the heck is that!?", Kyoko asks in disbelief as she looks up at the monster with her eyes filled with horror and confusion.


	23. Chapter 23: Lilith's Mirror

"A-a monster! MONSTER!", Kyoko shouts in disbelief. Moka hands Reiji over to Mizore and grabs Kyoko's hand before saying, "We have to get out of here! Now!" They all run, trying to make it seem like they're all worried about the monster chasing them.

They finally stop at the incinerator when Kyoko finally runs out of breath. Through her gasps for air, Kyoko asks, "What the heck was that thing? And why is it at your school?" Reiji sighs and says, "Don't worry about it." "Are you alright Kyoko?", Tsukune asks, trying to play the whole giant frog monster off like it was normal. Kyoko finally catches her breath before snapping her fingers and saying, "I know what that thing was and what this place really is! You all were trying to keep it a secret, but you can't hide it from me!" Moka, Tsukune and the other girls tense up while Reiji just rolls his eyes. Kyoko points at them and says, "So...Where are the cameras? You're getting this all on film, right? You're all engineers who build robots and other automatons and you're using one to try to make me leave! Well, it won't work! I'm not scared that easily!" They hear the same rumble from earlier and Kyoko scoffs before saying, "Real funny, but it won't scare me a second time guys. I've caught on now." The giant frog jumps out from the nearby woods, landing right in front of the three of them. Kyoko's confident mask quickly shatters as she screams out in fear and runs off into the woods towards the school. "Great, she ran off.", Reiji growls, irritated by this slight inconvenience. "I guess I'm just gonna have to knock the shit out of you then get back to work.", Reiji says as he turns to the frog, ready to fight. They suddenly hear a familiar voice say, "That won't be necessary." When they look for the source of the voice, they can't find it until they look up to see a shadowy figure standing on top of the giant frog. It's the Bus Driver and he's smoking a cigar. "The Bus Driver? What's he doing here?", Moka asks with a confused look. "Sorry to startle you kids. I'm just looking for something.", the Bus Driver says as he hops down from the frog's head, landing perfectly on his feet next to the group. "What exactly is this 'something' you're looking for?", Reiji asks him. "It's called Lilith's Mirror. It exposes the true face of whatever it shines upon. It was locked away deep in the school, but apparently it was stolen some time ago. We're searching the school for it. And as you all saw, this fellow with the webbed toes started acting up for almost no reason.", the Bus Driver explains as he gives the boy a cold look. "We?", Moka asks with a confused look. "Yes, the Bus Driver and I are looking for the mirror together.", they hear Ruby say from above. When they look up, they see Ruby flying down to them with her wings and wand. "So somebody stole a very important artifact from the school and you're just now getting around to looking for it?", Reiji asks in a slightly irritated tone. "We didn't know it was missing until just recently. It appears it was stolen by someone with fairly high clearance at the school. Just keep an eye out for that mirror, would ya? It's very dangerous when mishandled.", the Bus Driver suggests as he continues to smoke his cigar. Moka thinks back to the envelope that Kyoko had with her and says, "Reiji, you don't think that was what Kyoko has, right?" Reiji sighs and says, "Knowing Tsukune's luck, probably. Let's go get her before that mirror becomes a problem." "I'll go with you to be certain that it's Lilith's Mirror. Bus Driver, will you be able to continue the search on your own while I attend to this matter?", Ruby says before looking back to the Bus Driver, who has already jumped back on his giant frog. "Go, I can handle myself. Make sure these students stay safe. And no matter what happens, make sure Mister Oni does NOT touch that mirror.", he says before the frog leaps off. "We need to hurry! If that mirror is as dangerous as you guys say, then Kyoko's in serious trouble.", Tsukune says before they run off looking for Kyoko.

Over with Kyoko, she hides behind a tree and slowly slides down until she's sitting on the ground with the envelope in her lap. "Man, that was mean of you, Tsuki. To trick me once like that is okay, but to pull the same prank on me twice in a row in just a few minutes, that's cruel.", Kyoko says with a sigh. She looks at the envelope and says, "I bet there's nothing even in this envelope and this was all just to prank me like this!" She opens the envelope to find a mirror that shows her reflection. She looks at the mirror in confusion before shaking it around to see if it has a camera in it. "Just a normal mirror? Well that's odd.", Kyoko says as she continues to shake the mirror and listen for little rattles from a hidden camera. Suddenly she hears the voice from earlier say, "Please don't shake me like that.", then the mirror begins to let off a bright light. As the light dies down, a little fairy in a blue gown with fairy wings comes out of the mirror as if it were water. As it sits on the rim of the mirror, it says, "Oh, hello there, my name is Lilith! I'm the spirit of this mirror. Nice to meet you! You must be my new mistress!" Kyoko looks at the mirror in complete disbelief before tossing it aside and continuing to run the way she was before while mumbling, "Smoke and mirrors, smoke and mirrors!" Lilith chases after her with her mirror as she shouts, "Mistress wait, please!" Lilith flies in front of Kyoko's face, stopping her before saying, "I wish to thank you, mistress! I couldn't have gotten away from that beast without you. Please let me grant you one wish to show my gratitude." Kyoko puts her finger on her chin and says, "What is this? Never seen automatons this realistic before. Is this some kind of CGI?" "Oh, I guess you haven't seen one of my kind before. It makes sense since you're just a human and all. You really wouldn't come in contact with monsters like me that much in the human world.", Lilith says with an innocent smile. "Monsters? What do I look like, a kid? Monsters aren't real? You really think I'll fall for that one?", Kyoko says as she blows Lilith's claim off like a fairy tale. Lilith is shocked by her response and says, "What? Well you're speaking with one right now... I guess I found a dense one." They both see a couple of students walking on a nearby path and Lilith says, "Here, maybe this will convince you." Lilith flies over to them with her mirror and says to the bald guy, "Hey, look over here!" He does and in the mirror, he sees himself in his monster form, a cyclops. He suddenly turns into his monster form and begins to panic as he shouts, "W-what's going on!? What happened to my disguise!?" Lilith flies back over to Kyoko and says, "See, this school is much more than what it looks like on the outside. The students all wear disguises to look human, when in reality they're all monsters. My mirror reveals their true natures. It can show you many things." Kyoko is left baffled in amazement and Lilith asks, "Believe me now?" "That's amazing! These tricks are so realistic! Show me some more tricks! I mean, show me some more 'true natures.'", Kyoko says to her. A grin comes across Lilith's face as she says, "Your wish is my command, mistress." Kyoko turns away and says, "Man, Tsuki really got himself into a crazy school." Kyoko and Lilith go around the school and find groups of students hanging out and talking to each other. Lilith begins to one by one change them into their monster forms. First a slug monster, then a mermaid, then an umbrella monster, and then many more after that until there was a giant hoard of monsters all around them. Kyoko begins to hyperventilate while saying, "This can't be real. This can NOT be real!" "This is fun! Right mistress?", Lilith says happily as she flies around with her mirror. "Stop! I've seen enough Lilith!", Kyoko shouts at her. "Aww, but why?", Lilith replies in a disappointed tone as she looks over to her mistress. "You've had your fun, now it's time to stop and return everyone back to normal.", Kyoko orders, but Lilith ignores her and flies off to another crowd of students while happily saying, "Hey everyone, look in my mirror!" "Hey, are you even listening to me!?", Kyoko shouts in her frustration as she chases after Lilith. The spirit giggles and says, "Sorry, it's too late to stop now." "Lilith!?", Kyoko shouts furiously as the creature escapes her grasp. Lilith quickly flies through the crowd, turning all the students into their monster forms as Kyoko looks on in fear. Lilith looks over to her once she's finished and says, "What's wrong mistress? This is what you wished for, isn't it? You wanted to see the true nature of this school, so take a good, long look! For as long as you can stay alive that is!", with an evil smile. Kyoko looks around frantically as the once normal students turned monsters start destroying everything around them and says, "Then, that means, monsters are real!" Lilith giggles and says, "Very good! I guess you're not too dense to understand now, huh? Now, can you guess what I'm going to do next, mistress?" "You're going to put everything back to normal?", Kyoko says hoping that was the answer. Lilith licks her lips and drools as she says, "Oh no, you see, a terrified human soul tastes wonderful to a spirit like myself and it's past my lunch time." Lilith goes to shine the mirror's deadly light on Kyoko to devour her soul, but Moka shows up just in time to save her from the light by swatting Lilith away as she tells Lilith to stay away from Kyoko. "M-Moka?", Kyoko asks in disbelief as she stumbles and falls to her knees in fear. Moka goes to help her up, but Kyoko crawls away from her in fear as she shouts, "S-stay away! I know what this place is now! You and all of Tsuki's friends are really human eating monsters! Stay away from me and Tsuki!" Moka goes to say something, but gets cut off when Lilith says, "You! How dare you get in between me and my lunch!?" Moka looks around and sees that her and Kyoko are surrounded by the hoard of out of control students. Lilith giggles before saying, "I picked the most violent ones and used my magic to control them. It was easy to take control of them in all their confusion from their sudden transformations. You have nowhere to run my mistress." "W-we're surrounded! We're going to die!", Kyoko shouts as she begins to cry hysterically. Moka remains calm and looks around for a way out, but sees none until she notices Lilith sitting on top of a mirror. "That must be Lilith's mirror. So that's the cause of all this then.", Moka thinks to herself. "Kyoko! Can you help me get that mirror?", Moka says to her. "What!? No way! You're sending me to my grave! I'd get killed! Why would I even trust you?", Kyoko shouts frantically. "Because, you trust Tsukune, right? I might be a monster, but I'm more than that. I'm also Tsukune's friend, just like you. For Tsukune, let's stand together and get out of here.", Moka says to her. She extends her hand out to Kyoko, and she surprisingly takes it. "Enough! Get them my pets!", Lilith shouts to her minions before they charge at them. Moka and Kyoko start running together towards the hoard head on, then they jump onto one of the student's heads and launch themselves at Lilith, who's surprised that they got around her pets. Kyoko grabs Lilith as Moka grabs the mirror. "Hey! Let me go! Are you planning on bringing me down with you?", Lilith says as she tries to wriggle free. Moka looks into the mirror while saying, "Let's hope this works." As she looks into the magic mirror, she sees her inner self and a giant pillar of monster energy forms around her as Inner Moka is released. With a single kick, Moka defeats the entire hoard of students coming for her and Kyoko before turning her attention back to Lilith. "Ah, so she used the mirror's magic to awaken me without removing the rosary seal. That was pretty clever of her.", Moka says as she tosses the mirror aside. Lilith manages to squirm free of Kyoko's grasp before flying over to her mirror and catching it before it hits the ground and shatters. "Kyoko!", Kyoko hears Tsukune shout from out of nowhere. She turns and sees him fall over as he's tackled by Yukari and Kurumu. They all get up, breathing heavily from their running all over the place searching for her. "Tsuki?", she asks as she realizes that they had been looking all over the place for her. "Kyoko, I'm very sorry I lied about this school! It's just that this place is very dangerous and.. and..", Tsukune begins to say before she shushes him and says, "It's all right. I'm fine. Moka protected me." Reiji, Mizore and Ruby all show up as they were helping subdue some of the rampaging students across the campus and Reiji asks, "What did I miss? Looks like there was a party without me." Mizore uses her ice claws to pick up Lilith by her wings and says, "And this must be Lilith's Mirror and Lilith. It looks pretty rare. I say we preserve it, in ice." Ginei suddenly shows up and shouts, "Guys, we have to hurry! It's not safe! There have been reports of sightings of-", but before he can finish what he's saying, they all hear a familiar voice say, "Reports? I guess you're referring to me then, Ginei." They all look up to the roof of the school to see Kuyo standing there, watching them with a grin on his face. "We meet again, Newspaper Club.", Kuyo says with an evil grin on his face as he looks down on them.


	24. Chapter 24: Burning Reunion

"Kuyo! What're you doing here!? You were expelled from Yokai Academy!", Kurumu shouts as they all look up at the fox boy. "Oh, I just came to watch you Newspaper Club members enjoy the present I sent to Mister Aono. Consider it a reminder that you haven't seen the last of me quite yet.", Kuyo smugly replies as he grins at their confusion. "So you came all this way to watch us beat on some rampaging students? Don't we do that on a daily basis though?", Reiji asks him with a slight grin. "Actually, I came to watch the school burn as the student body tore it to pieces.", Kuyo replies as he wags his finger. He turns his attention to Lilith and says, "Lilith, it's time to start phase two of the plan." Lilith and her mirror begin to glow in Mizore's hands after he says that. Kurumu gets worried and pushes Tsukune out of the way, shouting, "Get back Tsukune! The mirror's doing something weird!" Suddenly, the entire group except for Kyoko, Ginei and Tsukune are engulfed by a giant ball of light that lasts only a second before disappearing to reveal that the group had been turned into their monster forms. Kurumu's tail and pointy ears were showing, Mizore's ice claws and ice hair were visible, Yukari and Ruby looked the same, and Reiji's eyes turned from their usual blue to a scarlet red and his nails are as sharp as knives. Lilith escapes Mizore's grasp in the confusion and flies up to Kuyo. "I pulled some strings and had someone take the mirror from the Headmaster's personal safe and bring it to me. And now, I'm going to use the power of Lilith's Mirror to turn this school into a pile of rubble.", Kuyo explains with a giant smile on his face. "No! We'll stop you, right guys?", Tsukune shouts as he turns to his friends. Mizore and Kurumu both tackle Tsukune as Kurumu shouts, "You're all mine, Tsukune!" "It seems like the mirror turned most of you into drooling idiots. I guess that suits your true natures just fine.", Kuyo notes smugly before he starts walking off with Lilith at his side. "Where do you think you're going with that mirror!?", Moka shouts at him. He looks over his shoulder surprised by her reaction and says, "Oh, you want the mirror? Well, come and get it." Lilith and him fly off as Moka watches them fly up to the highest rooftop of the school. "No! We can't let them get awa-", Tsukune tries to say before Yukari lands on top of him while saying, "Tsukune!" He turns to Reiji, who's walking off in the opposite direction towards the sound of fighting. "Reiji! Where are you going!? They went the other way!", Tsukune says as he gets to his feet with Yukari and Kurumu clinging to his ankles. Reiji looks back at him with an evil glare that pierces through their souls, putting the fear of a God into them all, even Moka is a bit frightened by that look. Reiji turns back to his path before walking off as the rest of the group just wonders what just happened to their friend. "That isn't a good sign, looks like he might've taken the wheel.", they all hear the bus driver say as he lights a cigar in the shadows. "The Bus Driver? Do you know what is going on with everyone?", Tsukune asks as he points at Kurumu and Yukari. "It's simple. The true self the mirror reveals is more than our outer self. It's our secrets, our fears, our desires. These are parts of our true selves too. Aren't they? That's why the mirror was sealed away so long ago and for as long as it was. It's a very dangerous artifact. When people's souls are unleashed, they lose all self-control and sight of who they really are, just like them.", the Bus Driver explains. Kurumu begins to breath heavily as she wraps her arms and tail around Tsukune's body. "Let's go do it Tsukune! I want y-", Kurumu begins to say before Yukari knocks her unconscious with a washtub to the head. As she tosses the washtub aside, she says, "Like he'd sleep with a slut like you, Kurumu. Tsukune deserves a nice innocent girl, like me!" She suddenly tries to leap on top of him, but gets frozen in the air by Mizore, who says, "This is just like Goldilocks. The first was too big, the second was too small, but the third one's just right. Right Tsukune?" Tsukune begins to panic as he shouts, "Not right! Not right!" Kurumu gets back to her feet and begins to fight Mizore for Tsukune's heart as Tsukune tries to get away from this madness. He bumps into Ruby as he tries to back away from the brawl going on between Mizore and Kurumu, falling on his ass after jumping in sudden fear. "Are you alright, Tsukune?". Ruby asks him as she extends her hand to him to help him up. "Oh thank god, you're still normal, Ruby!", Tsukune says in disbelief. "What would you have of me?", Ruby asks him as she helps him to his feet. He raises his eyebrow in confusion and asks, "What?" "Just give me an order, Master! Anything! I'll do whatever you ask of me! Anything!", Ruby says as she starts to raise her dress up for him to see her panties, but gets pulled into the brawl between Kurumu and Mizore as Kurumu tries to used her as a weapon. The brawl is stopped by a sudden explosion caused by a clash of monster energies. "Don't tell me, it's Reiji.", Ginei says in a worried tone. "Yep, he's on another rampage. Let's hope this one ends quicker than the last one.", the Bus Driver says as he glances over in the direction of the explosion and screams. "The last one? What do you mean by that?", Kyoko asks him. "I'm not about putting people's personal information out in the open like this, but Reiji went on a rampage long ago in the Underworld when he was younger. The death count was in the thousands and the event lasted for days.", the Bus Driver says as the screams from Reiji's direction get louder and louder. Tsukune turns to Moka and says, "We have to stop him! If he hurts somebody..." Moka just scoffs and says, "Why should I care? I've got my own plans." "Your own plans? What do you-", Tsukune begins to ask before Moka says, "I'm going after that mirror. I don't need to babysit you anymore." "Wait, you're going to go fight Kuyo? If so, I want to go with you!", Tsukune says to her. "No, I'm just fetching that mirror. Turns out, it can let me swap places with my other self whenever I want. So I don't need you anymore.", Moka replies coldly. "You think that all Tsukune's good for is pulling off your seal!?", Kurumu asks furiously. "Isn't it? That's all he ever meant to me at least.", Moka says as she starts walking off on her own. As she starts running off on her own, she says, "No offense, Tsukune, but you just got replaced by a looking glass."

Over with Reiji, he's fight through hoards of other students who are banding together to fight against him. "Ah, so the weak can't take me on their own so they have to band together to try to stand a chance. Well, you all better think again!", he shouts in a demonic voice as the seals on the back of his hands begin to glow. The first seal is released and in an instant, the hoard of students is beaten into submission. He goes for a killing blow on one of them, but something stops him an inch before he can cut into the student's flesh. He sighs and says, "You're still fighting me? How troublesome. Just let me have my fun." "You can beat them senseless, that's all you get! I won't let you kill them!", Reiji shouts to himself from inside a mental room chained to the wall. "Hm, we'll see about that. You can only fight me until you run out of monster energy. Once that happens, this school becomes my own personal bloodbath!", the demon says as he looks for another group to fight. "Yeah right! The effects of this damn mirror will wear off first, then I'll be in control again and you'll go back where you belong!", Reiji shouts to him through the bars on the door of his cell. "Not if I take that mirror for myself. Then I'd be in control forever and that will be your cell from now on.", the demon replies as he closes his eyes to try to sense Lilith's monster energy. He opens his eyes and looks to the highest rooftop of the school and says, "There it is, my mirror. I hope your friends stand in my way, that way you can watch helplessly as I slay them." "You leave them out of this!", Reiji exclaims as he tries to break the chains holding him. "Try to escape as much as you like, it won't work. Trust me, I tried.", the demon says with a slight grin on his face.

Reiji leaps up to the rooftop where he sensed Lilith's monster energy to see Kuyo and Lilith standing there, watching the chaos they help create start to rip the school apart. Suddenly Moka does the same, but on the other side of the roof. "Ah, Moka. I've been looking forward to meeting you in person.", the demon says with an evil smile. "You're not Reiji, who are you?", Moka asks with a glare. "Yes, I'd like to know the answer to that question too.", Kuyo adds as he looks over to the demon. "It doesn't matter. All you need to know is that I'm here to get that mirror, then I'll be free to rampage as much as I want, and there won't be a damn thing any of you can do to stop me.", the demon replies before he starts walking towards Lilith and Kuyo. "That mirror is all mine, you hear me!?", Moka shouts as she starts making her way towards Kuyo. "Ah, so you both are under the effect of the mirror. Lilith, you wouldn't happen to be able to control them, would you?", Kuyo says as he glances over to her on her mirror. She tries to use the power of the mirror to take control of them, but neither are phased by it. "You think I'd let you take the wheel after I've been caged up for so long? Looks like you're dumber than you look.", the demon says as he gets closer to Kuyo and Lilith. "Like a proud vampire like myself would be manipulated by a looking glass.", Moka says as she also gets closer to them. Kuyo grabs the mirror from Lilith and shouts, "Take this!", as he tosses it to Moka. Moka easily catches it and asks, "What is it Kuyo? Come to your senses?" Kuyo smiles and says, "He wants the mirror, so I don't want it anywhere near me. You can hold onto it for the moment." The demon's attention turns from Kuyo to Moka. He glares at her and says, "Hand it over kid, you don't stand a chance as you are." "As I am? You're pretty cocky to think you can take a vampire like me on in that form.", Moka replies confidently as she prepares to fight the demon who's controlling Reiji's body. Suddenly, the demon appears behind her and in one kick launches her across the rooftop and swiftly catches the mirror that she dropped from the force of the hit. "You're definitely an idiot like Reiji always said. You were so cocky that you didn't even notice you're powerless.", the demon says with a grin as he throws the mirror up in the air and catches it like a ball. "W-what? The rosary... It's still sealing my powers?", Moka asks as she manages to get to her feet. "Exactly, so this mirror is useless to you, fool. Now do me a favor, and die!", the demon says as he knees her in the gut and kicks her in the ass, sending her skipping across the rooftop again. He looks in the mirror to see his face and says, "Ah, look at that handsome devil. Where did you come from?" He stops admiring his reflection as soon as he sees something flying towards him from behind. He growls in frustration and says, "It's your stupid friends. I guess they're coming to do some sort of friendship thing to save Moka or something. At least I can kill them all now." "I won't let you! I'll stop you!", Reiji growls as he continues to struggle to break free from his chains. A seal forms around Reiji and that same seal forms on the backs of the demon's hands. "Limiter seals, what a pain.", the demon says with a sigh. "I thought that with that mirror... I could fight without needing to endanger Tsukune... But it seems, it only makes me... weak like him... To think I did all this... for his sake.", Moka says to herself as she struggles to get to her feet while holding her wound from the demon's knee a moment ago. "Moka! Why didn't you just tell us that in the first place, stupid!", Kurumu shouts to her from the sky. She looks up to see Kurumu carrying Yukari and Mizore. "You're definitely the worst communicator, Moka.", Kurumu says mockingly as she prepares to fight Reiji with Mizore and Yukari. "No! Get out of here! You can't stop him! He's too strong for any of us!", Moka shouts out. "Hm, this is getting tricky. I can't attack them directly, else Reiji will just hold me back with these limiter seals and I'll get hit for it.", the demon begins to think to himself. He glances over to Lilith and thinks, "Maybe I can use an indirect method then." He suddenly appears in front of Kuyo and Lilith, who's sitting on Kuyo's shoulder. The demon glares at Kuyo then turns his sight to Lilith. They both believe they're about to die, but the demon only grabs Lilith off Kuyo's shoulder and says, "I could use an accomplice." "A-accomplice? What are you-", Lilith begins to ask before he puts one of his sharp nails against her throat. "It's simple, you either serve, or die.", the demon says to her coldly. "You can't kill her, I won't let you do that!", Reiji snaps at him. "Make your choice spirit: live or die.", the demon says forcefully as he begins to apply pressure against her throat with his nail. "I'll follow you, Master! I swear!", Lilith says frantically. The demon begins to laugh maniacally before stabbing Lilith through the chest with his nail. "Now, let's make sure you stay that loyal, servant.", the demon says before pumping a small amount of his monster energy into her body. Lilith is engulfed in a sphere of black monster energy until it disappears, revealing Lilith unharmed with scarlet eyes like the demon's. "What is your bidding, Master?", Lilith asks the demon with a smile. "Destroy these pesky friends of Reiji's for me, servant. They aren't worth my time.", the demon replies before turning his attention to Kuyo. "As you wish, Master.", Lilith says as the demon hands her the mirror to use as her weapon. "So, what's the plan Yukari?", Mizore asks her. "What? Why are you asking me? Kurumu, you have a plan, right?", Yukari says frantically. "Yeah, we kick his demon butt into next week just like everyone else.", Kurumu says in a serious tone as she extends her nails. Mizore forms her ice claws and says, "You say that like it's easy." "I'm pretty sure that's the worst plan I've heard all year, Kurumu.", Yukari adds as she pulls out her wand and some steel playing cards. "If you want to get to my master, you'll have to get through us first!", Lilith says before a hoard of students in their monster forms leap up to block their path to the demon and Lilith. Lilith looks over to Kuyo who seems to be enjoying himself, before she says, "How about you join them, Kuyo?" She tries to flash the light from her mirror onto him, but he appears all the way across the rooftop and says, "I think I've seen enough. Reiji will likely destroy this place in his rampage, so my work here is done. I hope you liked my little gift, Newspaper Club. Goodbye." He suddenly bursts into flames and disappears with the flames as he seems to burn up into nothing. The demon looks over to where Kuyo once was and says, "Damn, he got away. And I was looking forward to fighting that one. Oh well, I guess I just have what's left here now." He looks over to Moka and her friends all trying their best to fight off Lilith's hoards of students, but they're slowly getting overwhelmed with Moka not being able to fight at full power. "It's too bad that Moka's powers are still sealed by that rosary, else they might've actually stood a chance against Lilith's hoards.", the demon says mockingly to Reiji. "I'm going to get out of here!", Reiji shouts as the chains begin to crack. "You're really trying in there, but I'm telling you it's hopeless. You can't get out of those chains no matter how hard you push yourself. Just sit back and watch as your friends die like the weaklings they really are.", the demon says sadistically. Suddenly, Tsukune shouts out from the sky, "Moka!" They all look up in disbelief as Moka says, "Tsukune?" They all see Ruby carrying Tsukune in her arms as she flies him and herself up to Moka. She tosses him to Moka as he shouts, "It looks like you need my help after all, Moka!" He rips the rosary off her neck and she's left in complete disbelief. "After everything I said, he still...", Moka thinks before her power is released once more and she defeats the hoards of students with multiple kicks.

Over with the Bus Driver and Kyoko, who are both sitting on his giant frog friend away from all the fighting, they see the giant pillar of light caused by Moka's monster energy being released. They hear a voice from behind them say, "Even with her current full power, she isn't strong enough to beat him in this state." Kyoko turns to see the Headmaster standing atop a winged cat as he watches the fight unfold with them. "You're right, Headmaster. That thing knows nothing other than fighting. It outclasses her in every way. Maybe you should step in and do something.", the Bus Driver says as he continues to smoke his cigar. "That would be best.", the Headmaster says as he flies off on his trusty cat toward the battle. "Maybe the girl can help you bring him back.", the Bus Driver suggest to him as he flies off. "Girl? You don't mean me, do you?", Kyoko asks nervously. "No no, another girl. Just keep watching.", the Bus Driver replies with his usual creepy smile.

Back at the battleground, Lilith sits with her mirror on the demon's shoulder as he glares at Tsukune and his friends. "You're outnumbered. Return Reiji and the mirror at once!", Ruby demands as she points her wand at the demon. "It's over, you don't stand a chance against all of us at once.", Kurumu says confidently. "Servant, stay out of this one. I'll deal with this one, personally.", the demon says to Lilith, to which she nods. She flies off his shoulder with her mirror and into the air as she says, "As you command, Master." "Let's test how long you can hold me back before you give in, Reiji.", the demon says before appearing behind Ruby. Before they can realize where he went, the demon tries to elbow her in the spine, but Reiji stops his arm before it can hit her. While Reiji's focused on stopping his arm, the demon kicks Ruby into Yukari, sending them both skidding across the roof. "So you can only focus one body part at a time huh? That makes things a little easier for me.", the demon says as he goes to punch Tsukune. "He's faster than last time!", Moka thinks to herself as she goes to kick him away from Tsukune. His fist stops right in front of Tsukune's face as he ducks under Moka's kick, causing Tsukune to take the kick instead. The demon chuckles to himself before saying, "You're all more fun than I expected. Let's have some more fun!" Kurumu and Mizore go to attack him together, but he deflects Mizore's ice shards while dodging Kurumu's wild slashes. He goes to punch both of them, but he suddenly stops when they all hear the Headmaster say, "That's enough!" The Headmaster jumps down from his flying cat and lands in front of the demon, blocking his path to the other students. "Ah, so the Headmaster decided to get off his lazy ass and do something on his own for once? What a surprise.", the demon says as he makes space between himself and the Headmaster. "Tell me demon, can you even access the power locked behind the other seals, or is it only allowing you to access the first seal?", the Headmaster asks with a grin. The demon grinds his teeth in frustration and says, "This is all the power I need to destroy all of you, though I'd like to get the rest of my power back so I can go back to my true self, but that's a task for later." "So he can't access Reiji's SS class form. That's a relief.", Mizore says as she moves to the Headmaster's side. Tsukune manages to make his way to the Headmaster with his wounds and asks, "Headmaster, can you help him? Can you return him back to normal? I managed to snap everyone out of Lilith's spell earlier, but I don't know if I can..." "I have a plan.", the Headmaster confidently replies. The Headmaster reaches into his robes and pulls out the Rosary of Judgement. He points it at the demon and says, "You know what this is, don't you demon?" "The Rosary of Judgement? An old relic like that? You really think I'll be stopped by a simple rosary? Such foolishness from one of the Three Dark Lords is just comical.", the demon says with a grin on his face. "You're very correct. This rosary alone couldn't possibly defeat you, but that isn't the only weapon in my arsenal, boy.", the Headmaster says with a sadistic grin. Suddenly, Tsukune, with vampire eyes and a dark aura, rushes towards the demon and manages to hit him straight in the face with a powerful punch, but it doesn't seem to phase or move the demon at all. The demon chuckles to himself and begins to say, "You caught me off guard, Tsukune, but a punch like that won't do jack sh-", but stops when he realizes he fell into the Headmaster's perfect setup. Clinched in Tsukune's fist is Moka's rosary seal and the Headmaster has the Rosary of Judgement against his head. "With the power of these two sealing rosaries combined, we'll seal you back where you belong.", the Headmaster says as he places his free hand on the demon's left hand. The demon chuckles to himself before saying, "I guess you win this round. At least I got to have some fun outside of my cage for once." The seals on the backs of his hands begin to glow before his eyes revert back to their natural blue and he falls unconscious.

Later, the Headmaster and the Bus Driver are looking over the school as it is covered in blood and wild fires. "Reminds me of the good old days when we first founded this school. Back then, it was constant pandemonium.", the Bus Driver says to him. "So we decided to hide our true selves.", the Headmaster adds with a grin. "I stand by that decision. Coexistence depends on hiding differences. Aren't lies the stuff of love and diplomacy?", the Bus Driver says before lighting himself another cigar. The Headmaster lets out a slight laugh before saying, "True... But we can't be sure our way will last forever. Humans and Monsters need a common bond that can survive the truth." They turn their attention from the destruction to Tsukune and his friends. Reiji has just regained consciousness with Ruby and Mizore carrying him by his shoulders. Tsukune's chasing after Moka, who's walking off without a care for anyone else. "Wait, Moka!", Tsukune shouts out, causing her to turn around with a glare to see what he wants. He extends his hand out to shake hers to thank her for her help and she just glares at him for a moment before letting out a sigh and reluctantly shaking his hand. "Take a good look. That's a snapshot of the future.", the Headmaster says with a smile on his face. Kyoko comes running over to Tsukune as Kurumu and Yukari hug him from both sides. "Tsuki! You're alive! You were right, this place is dangerous! Whatever happened to that one guy and Lilith?", Kyoko says to him as she rushes over to him. "Kuyo got away, but I'm not sure where Lilith went. The demon that took over Reiji's body sent her off somewhere.", Tsukune explains as Kurumu and Yukari start to fight over Tsukune. Lilith flies down and lands on Reiji's shoulder before asking, "Master, are you alright? You seem tired." "She's still calling you 'Master?' I thought she would've reverted back to her normal self once we sealed that other guy away.", Kurumu says with a confused look. "He infused her with our monster energy and corrupted her mind. She's probably stuck like this forever now. That guy's a real sociopath.", Reiji explains as he looks over at Lilith. "So, what will you do with her now? Is there a prison for monsters or something?", Kyoko asks, not sure what to do next. "Well, this Lilith didn't do anything wrong technically so we can't really punish her. Remember, all the memories and desires from the original Lilith are all gone and only the new one remains.", Reiji says as Mizore and Ruby let go of his shoulders so he can walk on his own. "You know, I could always use another assistant.", the Headmaster says as he flies down on his flying cat. "But, Headmaster, I thought I was your assistant!", Ruby says with a tear in her eye. "Yes, but I can use all the extra helpers I can get. Consider it repayment for the destruction of my school.", the Headmaster says to them. "You heard him Lilith. You work for him now.", Reiji says to her. She simply nods before flying up to the Headmaster's shoulder with her mirror. The Headmaster takes the mirror and removes its effect it's having on all the students still rampaging through the school. He sighs and says, "You all had a long day today, go to your dorms and rest. I'll handle the rest here." Tsukune hands Moka her rosary and they all head back to their dorms to patch up their wounds and rest.


	25. Chapter 25: I'm Going Home, For Now

As everyone wakes up in the morning, they all find notices taped to their doors that say, "Temporary Closure: Due to the damage to the school grounds and its buildings, Yokai Academy will be closing for repairs. During the school's repairs, students will return to their homes and refrain from any unauthorized activity." The whole student body comes together in the main courtyard to see if this is true or if it's just some sort of prank, but they all see an official notice signed by the Headmaster saying the exact same thing as the notices they got on their dorm doors. "The whole school is closing!?", Tsukune asks in disbelief. "I guess the damage from the rampages yesterday caused a lot more damage than we originally anticipated.", Yukari says as she looks at the note. Moka sighs and says, "I hope it doesn't take too long." Tsukune looks back at the notice he got and reads it off, saying, "During the school's repairs, students will return to their homes and refrain from any unauthorized activity." "Go home!? Does that mean, you'll have to go back to the human world, Tsukune!?", Kurumu asks with tears in her eyes. Kurumu leaps at Tsukune with a hug while shouting, "You can't go back home Tsukune! I can't live without you!" Reiji literally has to pull her off of Tsukune so he can breath again before saying, "Calm down, the repairs probably won't even take that long. Besides, Tsukune could probably use a break from this place." Tsukune begins to think about it and says, "This could be a good thing. My parents haven't seen me in a long time. They're probably going to be pretty happy to see me again." Kurumu begins to cry again while saying, "But Tsukune..." Then he suddenly tears the note he had in his hands into six smaller pieces of paper before starting to write on them all. He gives all of his friends a piece and says, "Here, this is my contact information. Call or write to me whenever you feel like it." Kurumu is more than pleased by this and says, "Well, I guess if this is how it has to be.", before giggling to herself. Soon the buses arrive to take all the students home and Tsukune and his friends start to split up. Moka realizes that Reiji doesn't seem to be heading for any of the buses and seems to be just, standing there. "Hey Reiji, don't you have a bus to catch?", Moka asks him, to which he shakes his head no. "Nope, I'm waiting for something else.", Reiji says before a portal opens behind him. "There it is. See ya later, Moka.", Reiji says before heading through the portal. As soon as he goes through it, the portal closes and Moka's just left standing there in confusion. She follows Tsukune over to his bus with Yukari and waves him off as his bus drives off to the human world. As the bus drives through the tunnel and into the human world, Tsukune looks out the window and thinks, "I'm going home. I've dreamed about this day so many times wondering if it would ever be possible to return here after what I've seen. But finally, it's happening."

The bus stops in front of Tsukune's house and he gets off with all his things before the bus speeds off into the distance. With his suitcase in one hand he walks up to his front door and rings the doorbell with his free hand. He hears his mother shout out from inside, "Coming!" The door unlocks and as it opens, he sees his mother peek her head out and ask, "Who is it?" She suddenly realizes her son has finally come home as he says, "Hey mom, I'm home.", she quickly swings the door open and hugs him around his waist. They go inside and he explains that the school had to close, but he doesn't mention why. "Oh, your school had to close? I wish they would've at least given us some warning. Your father would've called off work if he'd known you were coming home today. We could've had a party and everything.", his mother says as they walk to the kitchen. "Yeah, they just told us this morning that they were closing and managed to ship off all the students in just a few hours. It was pretty sudden.", Tsukune says as he takes off his school overcoat. "Oh, Kyoko stopped in a little bit ago. She said she had a lot of fun at your school the other day. She mentioned a Reiji boy from your school, she might be obsessed.", his mother says with a snicker. Tsukune laughs with her and says, "Well I'm happy she enjoyed her time there." His mother reaches for the tea kettle and says, "Here, let me get you some tea.", but he stops her and says, "You don't have to do that mom. I'm not a guest, I can pour my own tea." He lays his overcoat down on a nearby chair and begins to pour himself a cup of tea as his mother looks over at him. "You're different now, Tsukune.", she says, causing him to turn and look at her with a confused look. She smiles innocently at him and says, "Remember when you first got there? You would call home all the time! But lately, we've heard very little from you. If we're being honest, I was starting to worry. I thought you might've... changed. I guess this is what happens when your baby is all grown up. You seem a lot more... mature, Tsukune." Tsukune finishes pouring his tea and sits down before they both hear the doorbell ring again. They both turn and his mother says, "Oh, maybe that's the package I've been waiting for! I ordered something cute off the TV, Tsukune. I hope this is it so you can see it." Tsukune chuckles to himself as his mother rushes off to get the door. But as he starts to take the first sip of his tea, he hears his mother scream out for some reason and ends up spitting his tea everywhere. He rushes to see what she's screaming over and before he gets there, he asks, "Mom, are you alright? What is it!?" As he gets there, she says, "I-It's a cute girl! And she's asking for you!" He looks up to the doorway to see that the cute girl that his mother was talking about was actually Moka with all her stuff in a bag. Moka waves to them and says, "Sorry... There were a lot of buses coming this way, so I decided to stop by and say hello." After Tsukune manages to calm his mother down, Moka asks to look around Tsukune's room and wants to see his room first.

He nervously takes her to his bedroom and closes the door behind them. She looks around his room in amazement while saying, "Wow! This is your room, Tsukune? It's amazing! And big too!" Tsukune's face turns red and he starts to think to himself, "Oh man, Moka's in my room! What do I do!? I don't know how to react to all this!" Moka turns to look at him with a slight blush and says, "Tsukune, I hope I'm not bothering you too much, dropping in like this and all. I just thought... that if I let you return to the human world alone.. I might not see you again." Tsukune suddenly gets closer to her and begins to say, "What? Why would you think that!? I would never-", but gets cut off as Moka begins to fall back on his bed and pulls him down with her. Suddenly he finds himself on top of Moka with both their faces as red as can be. They nervously look at each other before Moka starts to lean in to kiss him, but stops as they both hear a familiar voice say, "Owwwww." They both turn to look for the source of the voice and are surprised to see Kurumu sit up from under Tsukune's blankets. Kurumu rubs the back of her head with her eyes closed while saying, "Ah man, I must've fell asleep hiding." "Kurumu!? What are you doing in my bed!?", Tsukune asks her frantically. She tackles him with a hug while saying, "Tsukune! Thanks for giving me your address! I wanted to surprise you, so I climbed through your window! Now we can spend some quality time together! I can meet your parents, we can have dinner, and maybe I'll give you a little dessert afterwards. What do you say Tsukune?" Before he can answer, Moka taps her on the shoulder causing Kurumu to go into shock when she sees Moka in Tsukune's room too. "She was planning on doing the same thing!? What a sneaky bitch!", Kurumu thinks to herself. Without any warning, the closet door swings open and they all see Mizore hiding on the top shelf of Tsukune's closet. She starts lazily rubbing her eyes while saying, "Dang, I must've fell asleep hiding. I hope you don't mind Tsukune." She opens her eyes and realizes Kurumu and Moka are both also in his room and the shock makes her drop the lollipop out of her mouth as her jaw also drops in disbelief. Tsukune goes to say something, but gets cut off as the window swings open and Yukari pokes her head in the room. She begins to say, "Hey Tsukune, I was thinki-", but suddenly realizes that everyone else is already there too and gets a bit jealous. She jumps in through the window and asks, "Why is everyone in Tsukune's room? Are we finally having an orgy?" They hear Reiji's voice from almost out of nowhere say, "I hope not. This has been awkward enough for me." They look around to try to find him before he peeks his head out from under Tsukune's bed and says, "Boo." They all jump when they see him like this and Tsukune asks, "Reiji!? How the hell did you even fit under my bed!?" His head goes back under the bed before a shadow emerges and Reiji's whole body emerges from it as he says, "It's a secret technique used by spies in the Underworld. I just learned about it a little bit ago and decided to test it out. It seems to have fool all of you." "None of this matters, because Tsukune's going to hangout with me today!", Kurumu says as she tugs on Tsukune's right arm, pulling him to her side. "No, Tsukune's going to spend today with me.", Mizore says as she tugs on his other arm trying to pull him from Kurumu. "How about we just let Tsukune decide?", Moka suggests. "You stay out of this Moka! I saw that move you made back there! You 'slipped' and pulled him down on top of you? How desperate are you?", Kurumu says mockingly before shoving her back. And with that one shove, a brawl breaks out between the girls over who gets to have Tsukune for the day. Reiji sighs before opening the window and lighting himself a cigarette. "Come on guys, we don't have to fight!", Tsukune says trying to stop them. They ignore him and keep fighting, until his mother walks into the room carrying a plate with a tea kettle and cups. She says, "I brought you some tea.", before realizing that there are far more people in his room that she originally thought and that they're all fighting each other. She gives them all a look that seems to pierce their souls before saying, "Tsukune, a word.", and walking out of the room with the tea. Tsukune hangs his head in shame as he walks out of the room and closes the door behind him. The girls break up their fighting and sit down before they all hear Tsukune's mother yell, "Who the hell are all those other girls in your room, Tsukune!? And who's that other boy in there!? Was he smoking!? You're not smoking too, are you!? I swear to God, Tsukune, if I even think you might be lying to me!" "Mom, calm down! They're my friends! Just friends!", Tsukune says trying to defend himself. "You want me to calm down when you have four girls in your room, wearing nearly nothing and a boy smoking!? What do you take me for Tsukune!? I will not have these kinds of things going on under this roof, do you understand me!?", his mother shouts furiously. "Mom, calm down. You're getting too worked up over this.", Tsukune says softly. His mother begins to take a few deep breaths before saying, "Okay, okay, I've calmed down a bit. Now I don't have a problem with your friends being over, Tsukune, but, being a worrying mother and all, I won't leave you alone with all those girls. Not even for a moment." "She's scary.", Yukari says as she hides behind Kurumu. "Yeah, who would've thought Tsukune's mom would be so, aggressive.", Kurumu says as she huddles against Yukari, also afraid of Tsukune's mom. "Guys, we really messed up this time. We all came to have fun with Tsukune, but all we did was cause trouble. Maybe... we shouldn't come here.", Moka says in a slightly disheartened tone. "Well, we can still hangout with Tsukune, for today at least. We just need to set some ground rules.", Reiji suggests as he flicks his cigarette out the window before closing it. "Ground rules?", Mizore asks him. "Yeah, we need to make sure we all understand that we can't go doing the same kind of stuff we did back at Yokai. That means no washtubs, no freezing people or anything, no succubus stuff, no blood sucking, and no smoking for me, and especially no removing your rosary Moka.", Reiji explains as he leans against the window seal. "Sounds reasonable. We can do that, right guys?", Moka says as she turns to the others for an answer. Kurumu and Yukari look at each other before nodding to each other then to Moka. Mizore just shrugs and says, "I'll try I guess, if it means I get to see Tsukune for a little longer." "Then from this point on, we're just normal students and Tsukune's friends.", Reiji says as he pulls out Tsukune's computer chair and sits in it. Tsukune opens the door to his room and says, "Hey guys, my mom says it's okay for you all to stay for now, but there's a few things she wants to make clear to you all, okay?" Tsukune's mom walks into the room and says, "None of you girls are allowed to be alone with my son, understand? To prevent any funny business, Reiji here will be with him at all times. You can do that, right Reiji? If not, I can have a talk with all your parents and you can all go home." "Yeah, I can do that. No problem.", Reiji replies as he stands up from Tsukune's chair. Tsukune's mom smiles happily before saying, "Good, now you all have fun now. I have plenty of tea if you want some." She goes to walk out of the room, but stops and says, "Oh, and one more thing, Tsukune said he wanted to take a shower. So you'll both have to get your swimming trunks on and head to the bathroom, okay?" Reiji sighs and says, "Sure, just don't be throwing any parties without us."

Later, Reiji is sitting in the bathtub as Tsukune sits on a special chair in front of the shower head. Reiji finds a rubber ducky and squeezes it and is slightly surprised by the noise it makes, a high pitch squeak. "What the fuck is this thing, Tsukune?", Reiji asks as he holds it up for him to see. "Oh, that's just a rubber ducky. We've had that thing since I was little. Haven't you seen a rubber ducky before?", Tsukune replies with a glance at the rubber duck. "No, the Underworld doesn't really have anything like, this.", Reiji replies before squeezing the duck again to make it squeak. "Really? That's...odd. I almost forgot I had that thing honestly. If you want it, you can have it.", Tsukune says as he takes the shower head off its stand and sprays his back. "Thanks. I'll be sure to keep it somewhere safe.", Reiji replies before there's a knock at the door. "We don't want any!", Reiji says jokingly. The door opens and Kurumu walks in wearing nothing but a towel. "Hey, um, can I talk to you, Tsukune?", Kurumu asks nervously. "Kurumu, I'm taking a shower!", Tsukune says as his face turns red. "This is the only place where I can talk to you privately, okay?", Kurumu says in slight frustration. "Sorry, but this isn't exactly private at the moment.", Reiji says mockingly as he plays with the rubber duck. "Hey, Reiji, you think you could, you know, give Tsukune and I a minute or two? We just need to talk is all, honest.", Kurumu asks him as kindly as she can. Reiji lets out a slightly irritated grown before saying, "Fine, I guess I can give you, maybe, half a minute. But I'll still be here, so don't be doing anything stupid." Tsukune raises his eyebrow and starts to ask, "What do you mean you'll be-", before Reiji dives down under the water in the tub. "Well, that happened.", Tsukune says with a dumbfounded look on his face. "So, Tsukune, there was something I wanted to talk to you about.", Kurumu says as she gets down on her knees so she can be at eye level with Tsukune. She puts her hand on the X shaped scar on his chest and says, "I... I feel like me being here is really bugging you. And maybe... maybe I shouldn't have come here. Am I making trouble for you, Tsukune?" Tsukune puts his hand on hers and pulls it away before saying, "Kurumu, not at all! It's all fine, really. I'm happy you're all here." Tears start to swell up in her eyes before she leaps into his arms and says, "I knew you'd say that, Tsukune! I just knew you wouldn't mind me being here! And I want you to know one more thing, Tsukune." She takes his hand and rubs it against her cheek while saying, "I want to be more than just friends with you, Tsukune." She slowly starts moving his hand down from her face to her chest and before she can move it any lower, the rubber duck that Reiji was playing with rises to the surface of the water, but it's completely encased in ice. They both notice it and look back at each other in confusion before Mizore and Reiji both pop out of the bathtub. Mizore seems to be wearing a one piece bathing suit and still has a lollipop in her mouth. "M-mizore!? When did you-", Tsukune begins to ask before Reiji says, "She must've snuck in here before we got in here. I got too distracted by the rubber duck to notice." "I knew Kurumu would do something like this, so while you two were getting into your swimming trunks I went into the bathroom and changed into mine and hid under water until just now.", Mizore explains as she prepares to freeze Kurumu. "Don't forget what we all agreed on, Mizore! No powers of any kind, remember?", Kurumu says as she backs away from Tsukune. "She's right, no powers. If you want to fight, you'll have to do it the old fashioned way.", Reiji says as he smashes the ice that has his rubber duck inside against the tub. "Fine, I'll just have to do this the hard way then.", Mizore replies before punching Kurumu in the back of her head. They start to pull each other's hair before stopping when Reiji says, "You know, Tsukune's mom seems to be pretty hot tempered. I wonder what she'd think about you two going against her orders. You know what they say about mothers and getting married." Mizore and Kurumu both look at each other nervously before realizing that this could ruin any chance they have to marry Tsukune in the future. "Okay, could you both just, kind of, forget this all happened? I don't want Tsukune's mom to hate me forever, okay?", Kurumu says nervously as she fixes her towel. "Yeah, not a word of this to anybody, or I'll have to freeze both of you solid.", Mizore adds as they both start heading towards the door. Kurumu turns back to wave to Tsukune, but before she can say anything, Yukari busts into the room and shouts, "There you two are! Stop bugging Tsukune!" She goes to pull them both out of the bathroom, but slips on a bar of soap and accidentally pulls off Kurumu's towel. Reiji's too busy playing with the rubber duck to notice, but Tsukune sees everything Kurumu has to offer and ends up having a massive nosebleed, coating the floor in his blood. Mizore rushes out into the hallway as she tries to put her socks back on while evading Kurumu's wrath. Tsukune's mom just so happens to be in the living room calling his father asking him to come home since Tsukune's home. She turns to see Mizore running through the hallway in her swimming suit before saying, "You know what Honey? You stay at work as long as you need. I'll hold the fort down until you get here." "You sure Dear? You can barely entertain one girl, let alone four girls and Tsukune's guy friend.", her husband says to her in a worried tone. Kurumu chases after Mizore in her underwear while shouting, "Come back here you! It's all your fault Tsukune saw me naked in the bathroom!" "I think I know exactly what I'm going to do Honey. We'll see you when you get home.", she says to her husband before hanging up the phone gently. Kurumu and Mizore start fighting again on the steps with Kurumu on top of Mizore as they both pull the other's hair. Tsukune rushes through the hallway trying to put on his pants and break up the fight all at once. His mother walks into the hallway and sees him trying to break up the fight and says, "No Dear, you're doing it all wrong. You break them up like this." She suddenly puts a hand Mizore's and Kurumu's shoulders before flinging them into the living room with a flick of her wrist. Tsukune and Yukari see the whole event and are left speechless from what they just saw Tsukune's human mother do without any visible effort. His mother calmly walks into the living room where Kurumu is laying on top of Mizore with her face buried in Mizore's breasts. She kneels down and lifts Kurumu's head out of Mizore's breasts and asks, "Now, what was it that you said about my son seeing you naked?" Kurumu just nervously laughs as Tsukune's mom glares at her. "C-can I get dressed first? It's a bit cold in here.", Kurumu asks nervously as she tries to put on her white dress shirt. Tsukune's mom snatches the shirt off of her and says, "No, you're going to tell me right now what you were planning and your going to do it in what you're wearing right now. I don't give two shits if you're wearing nearly nothing right now, I want answers." Reiji finally comes out of the bathroom in nothing but a pair of jeans while asking, "Where'd everybody go? Anybody die yet?" The doorbell suddenly rings, causing Tsukune's mom to stop her interrogation to look over her shoulder in confusion. Reiji walks to the door as he says, "I'll get it." He opens the door while asking, "Who is it?" Suddenly, he sees Kyoko standing in the doorway with a grocery bag in each hand. She sees Reiji topless before her face turns a dark red and she nervously says, "Reiji!? What are you... Is Auntie home right now?" "Auntie? You mean Tsukune's mom, right? Yeah, she's in the living room.", he replies as he opens the door all the way to let her in. She nervously walks by him before rushing to the kitchen to get away from looking at him. When she gets there, she sees Moka making dinner in an apron. "M-Moka!? You're here too!?", Kyoko asks in confusion. "Yeah, it's a long story. Tsukune might tell you, but I'm kinda busy making dinner for all of us right now. He should be in the living room with the others right now.", Moka replies as she continues working on dinner, setting all the ingredients out on the table. "Others? Who all did he bring home with him?", Kyoko asks as she puts the grocery bags down next to the refrigerator and heads to the living room. When she gets to the living room, she sees Tsukune's mom glaring at Yukari, Mizore and Kurumu with Kurumu still being in her underwear and Mizore still being in her bathing suit as Tsukune sits by himself on the opposite side of the room, only in his pants. "So Tsuki brought all of his girl friends home with him huh?", Kyoko says with a slight smile. "Kyoko, can you help me out here?", Tsukune begs. Kyoko shrugs and says, "Hey Auntie, what seems to be the problem this time with Tsuki's friends?" She points to Kurumu and says, "Apparently, Tsukune saw this one naked supposedly because the smaller one slipped and pulled off her towel by accident. The star of the swim team and this one were fighting in the hallway on the steps so I decided to calm them down a bit." Kurumu's, Mizore's and Yukari's faces all get as red as possible when she says that and they all look down shamefully. "They're a strange bunch, aren't they Auntie?", Kyoko says light heartedly. "Certainly, but if Tsukune likes them, he must have a reason.", his mom sighs before standing up and heading to the kitchen to check on Moka. Once they all know that his mother is finally out of the room and can't hear them whisper, Kurumu whispers, "What the hell is with your mom, Tsukune? She took my clothes and everything just to get me to talk." "Yeah, Auntie used to be the lead interrogator of a government agency. She knows how to get answers out of anybody.", Kyoko explains as she takes off her jacket and wraps it around Kurumu to cover her up. "Used to be? Why not anymore?", Yukari asks with a worried look. "Well, after having Tsuki, she decided to become a full time mom. I guess family was more important to her than work.", Kyoko explains as she stands back up. "She probably hates all of us now, thanks Kurumu.", Mizore says to her with a glare. "What? Me? You're the one who was hiding in the bathtub!", Kurumu says aggressively, but still in a hushed tone so Tsukune's mom won't hear her. "And you're the one who decided to go play with Tsukune naked. If I wasn't there, what would you've made Tsukune do back there then?", Mizore asks in a hushed tone. "That's none of your business, Frosty.", Kurumu replies with a glare. Mizore rolls her eyes and says, "Whatever, Boobzilla." "You wanna go, Snow Scank!?", Kurumu asks as she gets in Mizore's face. "Yeah, let's do this.", Mizore replies with a glare as she gets in Kurumu's face. "Hey, unless you two are about to bust out into an all out fist fight in the living room in your underwear, you two aren't doing jack shit.", Reiji says from the doorway from the hallway to the kitchen as he puts on his shirt. "Technically, your rule only applies while we're in Tsukune's house. So they can go all out with their powers outside if they really wanted to.", Yukari explains confidently. Mizore and Kurumu both look over at Yukari before splitting up to go get dressed. Mizore runs and grabs the rest of her clothes off the steps and gets dressed before rushing outside while Kurumu sneaks in and snags her shirt from the kitchen table before putting on the rest of her usual outfit and heading outside to fight Mizore, leaving Kyoko's jacket at the door. "We have to stop them! If they start fighting out there, they'll-", Tsukune begins saying before Reiji says, "Yeah, yeah, they'd wreck havoc all over your hometown and possibly get found out as monsters. Let's just hurry up and calm their asses down before one of them does something to get them in serious trouble." "Well, I'll go with you. Maybe I can talk some sense into them.", Kyoko says as she walks over to the door with Tsukune and Reiji. "I want to go too! I wanna watch those two tear each other apart.", Yukari says as she jumps up and heads to the door too. They all go outside to see the sidewalk, light posts, and even nearby bushes sliced up. "I guess we just follow the carnage until we find them.", Reiji says as he lights himself a cigarette and follows the trail of destruction they left behind.

They eventually come upon a park being destroyed by Kurumu's and Mizore's attacks with Kurumu and Mizore slightly injured by each other's attacks. Reiji sighs and says, "Come on, stop breaking shit and let's get back to Tsukune's house." The girls ignore him and Yukari says, "Here, let me try." She casts a spell which launches golden washtubs at them, but they just dodge her attack and attack her for interfering, both girls shouting, "Stay out of this, you little brat!", as they attack her. "Ohhhh, you're making me reeeeally mad!", Yukari growls before joining the rampage. Reiji lets out a deep sigh as the carnage continues and Tsukune shouts, "We have to do something! If this keeps up, somebody's bound to notice they're monsters." "Well, this looks like a job for Kyok-", Kyoko begins to say before a washtub falls from the sky right onto her head, knocking her out cold. Tsukune catches her as he says, "Kyoko? Kyoko, are you alright?" As Yukari's, Mizore's and Kurumu's attacks all continue to collide, causing massive explosions and large amounts of damage, Reiji begins to get irritated. He finally reaches his breaking point and shouts, "Enough!", while releasing a large wave of monster energy to get their attention. They stop for a moment to all look over at him. The seals on the back of his hands begin to glow as he says, "I'll stop all of you if I have to." He transforms into his S class form before rushing into battle all three of the girls at once.

As the group fights in the streets of Tsukune's hometown, Moka is left alone with Tsukune's mom, who's furious that 'those girls' ran off without her permission. "The nerve of those girls! I didn't give them permission to leave yet! Even Tsukune, Kyoko, and Reiji left. They better not be planning any funny business.", Tsukune's mom says as she drinks some tea. "I'm certain that Tsukune knows what he's doing, ma'am.", Moka says nervously as she continues to cook. "Yeah, he's grown so much since last time I'd seen him... Oh look at me, I'm letting a guest make dinner for me all on their own. Here, let me help...um.. uh... What's your name again?", she says as she starts helping Moka make dinner, chopping up the onions for her as the Vampire stirs the pot. Moka's surprised by this sudden realization and nervously says, "Oh, I still haven't formally introduced myself. I'm very sorry. I'm Moka, Moka Akashiya." "Moka Akashiya huh? Interesting...", she replies as she lifts the cutting board and dumps the chopped onion into the pot. After a short moment of awkward silence as they continue to chop vegetables and stir the pot, Tsukune's mother says, "So, you're the same Moka that Tsukune told me all about, right? The one who's in the same Newspaper Club. I didn't expect you to be a girl." "Tsukune, mentioned me?", Moka asks in disbelief as she turns to her with a confused glance. "Of course, when he first started calling me from that school of yours he mentioned you all the time. You apparently have quite the round house kick if Tsukune's description is accurate.", she replies as she looks away from her cutting board to look Moka in the eyes. She turns her attention back to the board as she says, "When he talked about you, he sounded so... happy. And he talked about you almost every time he called home too. I even told him I'd like to meet you one day, but I didn't anticipate it'd be like this." Moka begins to cry a little before Tsukune's mom says, "Now don't start crying on me, or I'm going to have to rethink what I'm about to say to you." Moka wipes away her tears before Tsukune's mom says, "I'm happy I finally got to meet you, Moka Akashiya. And thank you for not only watching over Tsukune in my absence, but also for being a part of his life." Moka looks up at Mrs Aono and says, "M-Mrs Aono..." Her face gets all red before she shouts, "Don't get all wishy washy with me missy! How about you go do what you're supposed to and get my son and his friends back in here!? Dinner's almost ready and there's only the two of us!" As the mother takes over the stove, Moka nods to her before heading for the front door.

Back with Reiji, Tsukune and the girls, they've decided to team up against Reiji to try to take him down then return to their fighting, but Reiji's too nimble to be hit by any of their attacks. "Come on, how are you supposed to win Tsukune over with pathetic moves like these?", Reiji asks as he easily dodges Kurumu's and Mizore's attacks. Yukari quickly launches a barrage of washtubs at him from the sky, but he either dodges them or catches them and tosses them at Mizore and Kurumu, hitting them with them instead. "This is ridiculous! We should at least be able to scratch him, right!?", Kurumu shouts before lunging at him once more. Reiji dodges her obvious attack before knocking her off balance, causing her to stumble and land on her ass. Mizore suddenly rushes towards him and slashes at him wildly, but he just parries the attacks before knocking her over, causing her to land on top of Kurumu. Reiji laughs a little before saying, "This is pathetic! How do you expect to even beat Moka if you can't even touch me!? Do you guys really care about winning Tsukune?" Yukari throws her steel tarot cards at him with all her might, but he just deflects them and says, "Literally a cheap parlor trick? Come on Yukari, learn a few more spells already." Mizore and Kurumu manage to get to their feet before helping Yukari surround him. "Oh no, I'm trapped! Whatever will I do!?", Reiji sarcastically cries out as he pretends to be frightened. They prepare to all attack him at once, but stop when they hear Tsukune say, "M-Moka!? What are you doing here!?" All four of them turn to see Moka shoving Tsukune's face into her chest and holding his head there while blushing with a smile on her face. "That bitch...! While we're out here fighting to the death for Tsukune's love, she's...", Kurumu growls as her anger begins to boil over. "Who the hell does she think she is?", Mizore says while glaring at Moka. The three girls rush toward Moka, ready to strike her down as Kurumu shouts, "Get your hands off Tsukune!", and Mizore shouts, "I won't let you do that to my Tsukune!" "We have to get out of the way now!", Tsukune shouts before Moka takes his hand and places it over the rosary. She looks into his eyes kindly as she says, "It's alright, I'll protect you, like I always do, Tsukune.", before using his hand to rip off the rosary and release Inner Moka. Kurumu, Yukari and Mizore both suddenly realize that this was all just a trap and Kurumu says, "Shit, she tricked us!" Inner Moka glares at the three of them before saying, "You fools and your petty squabbles, they're annoying. You should learn your place!" She kicks all three of them into unconsciousness before looking over at Reiji, who's just laughing to himself. "What's so funny?", Moka asks in her usual irritated tone. "Oh, it's nothing. Don't mind me.", Reiji replies as he transforms back into his human form. Moka shrugs it off before turning to Tsukune and saying, "You need to be clear with them, Tsukune. You can put it off for now, but someday you'll have to answer two very important questions: Who?, and Do you live in the human world or in the monster world? Remember that, Tsukune."

The next morning, Ruby stands outside of Tsukune's house with a sign that says that since all of Tsukune's friends broke the rules and used their powers in the human world and caused a good bit of damage, they had to return home immediately. "Sorry, but you all will have to come with me please.", Ruby says kindly. Moka and Yukari nod while Kurumu begins to throw a fit by shouting, "No, I don't want to go! I want to be with Tsukune!" Ruby tries to pull her onto the bus, but she starts to flail her arms and legs wildly trying to escape Ruby's grasp. Moka and Yukari both thank for letting them stay with them while Reiji and Mizore say nothing. "Next time you decide to come over, at least give me a warning, okay? You can come back whenever you girls want, but you have to tell me first.", Mrs Aono says with a smile. "Don't worry guys, I'll miss you all as much as I know you'll all miss me, alright?", Tsukune says, getting all his friends' attentions. Everyone turns to see the smile on his face as he says, "I'll see all of you again, I promise." After everyone says their goodbyes, they follow Ruby's orders and get on the bus to leave Tsukune's house and head back towards the monster world. As the bus drives off, they all wave back to Tsukune and his family one last time before they slowly faded out of sight.

 **With that, the first story ends. But the journey doesn't end there. We have another season to go through, but that's a story for another time. For now, check out the forum I made for this series and maybe give it a follow if you're interested in my little series I got going on here. _I might just answer a few special questions there if you're interested._ ;) -scarecrow1000154  
Here's the link: fanfiction net/** **forum/A-Jerk-A-Vampire-Forum/216186/  
 _You'll have to replace the space between 'fanfiction' and 'net' due to how this text editor doesn't like actual links, for whatever reason._**


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